


it feels like before, but is that good?

by terrifier



Series: Klaus Whump [6]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Child Abuse, Eventual Happy Ending, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Good Brother Luther Hargreeves, Good Brother Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Good Parent Grace Hargreeves, Good Sister Allison Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus Hargreeves Whump, Non-Binary Klaus Hargreeves, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Other, Post-Canon, Protective Siblings, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sexual Assault, Sibling Bonding, Suicide, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:34:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21562324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrifier/pseuds/terrifier
Summary: After going back to the past to escape the apocalypse, the siblings have to do everything they can to keep the timeline right but also help Vanya.Unfortunately for Klaus, to keep the timeline right, this means going back to their past training sessions with Reginald. They hope their siblings will notice the way they're breaking apart at the seams and help them before it's too late.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/Reginald Hargreeves
Series: Klaus Whump [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875406
Comments: 84
Kudos: 838





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> If you couldn't tell by the tags, this is a reggie rapes klaus fic. I'm just doing it for the angst and the happy ending, km sorry. 
> 
> But if this will upset/trigger you, please don't read.

Klaus couldn't take it. They couldn't do it. They'd already lived through this literal shit show once before, they didn't need, or even want, to do it again. If they had to spend one more 'personal training' session with Hargreeves, they might just kill themselves. There wasn't even any training involved- no, actually, that was a lie because each session tested their fucking will to live.

Why couldn't Five have just sent them a few days back into the past, not seventeen years? Why did their stupid brother have to overdo things. Sending them all back seventeen years was just an unnecessary exaggeration. Not only did he exhaust himself on the journey back in time, but he also complicated things more than needed.

Now they had to worry about Hargreeves catching onto what they were doing and that they knew about Vanya's powers whilst also reliving all of their childhood trauma. It wasn't fun in anyway and Klaus wanted to die. Again.

Luckily, their stay in the past was kind of made worth sticking around for because Ben was alive again. Which sort of made sense when they thought about it because his ghost brother had come along for the ride and he'd been alive seventeen years ago, which meant he had a living body to be thrown back into. 

Whenever Klaus could escape Hargreeves' grasp and pin distraction duty on one of their other siblings, they hung out with Ben and the duo would either sneak out to Griddy's or hide in the attic and laugh about how fucked up everything had gotten.

Klaus had noticed how Ben had seemed to be sticking to their side a lot, even though he was alive now. He believed it was because Ben thought knew what Klaus' personal training was and he wanted to protect him, even though to do so would alert the Commission of their whereabouts. Klaus appreciated the concern, really, but there was nothing Ben could do. Even if there was, they didn't think they would want Ben to know what their personal training actually was.

They couldn't bear the pitying, sympathetic looks he and the others would send him. They wouldn't be able to cope with them acting like they were with Vanya- like they could break at any second.

They wanted them to know, of course, yet they also didn't. 


	2. my mind is blistered and my body is aching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus has their first training session since returning to the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Warning for non-graphic rape and child abuse.⚠️

Klaus slumped against the bathroom sink as they brushed their teeth with the little effort they had. Five was just over their shoulder, brushing his own teeth with more vigour. Klaus wanted to tell him he should calm down or get bloody gums, but they couldn't find the effort. Let Five ruin his toothbrush bristles.

Foam dripped from their lips as they tiredly removed the toothbrush from their mouth and spat out the rest of the toothpaste. They were exhausted and not just because of the time travel a week ago. But because they had hardly slept a wink in that same week.

They kept eyeing their bedroom door every night, hidden behind the fabric that was their quilt, waiting for the inevitable. The ghosts that managed to break through their drugged mind screamed at them that they weren't safe hiding behind a blanket (as if they didn't already know that), but that didn't stop them from trying. If they kept their eyes open and watched the door intently from the little corner of the room where their bed was, maybe their dad wouldn't bother them.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking. Reginald didn't care whether they were hiding under their blanket - in fact, it seemed to just please him further that he was able to strike so much fear into his child's mind. No matter where or how they hid, Hargreeves managed to find them.

They briefly wondered if Reginald would come looking for them if they ran away. He didn't look for them when they turned eighteen in the original timeline and left in the dead of night. And as far as they knew, he didn't look for Five either when the little psycho ran away at thirteen. Maybe they _could_ run away, then. They knew their siblings wouldn't look for them. They had more important things to worry about than their junkie sibling, such as the apocalypse. And they weren't helpful in helping stop the apocalypse. They had no useful powers and the one they did have, they used drugs as a means of getting rid of them.

Sighing, Klaus blinked their tired eyes and rinsed their mouth out with water. They caught Five's curious gaze staring back at them when they risked a glance at themselves in the mirror. He'd stopped brushing his teeth and was watching them intently. Klaus rose a questioning eyebrow. 

"Tired?" Five asked casually, resuming brushing his teeth, this time less roughly.

"Absolutely exhausted," Klaus said dramatically, rolling their head back.

"You should think about sleeping earlier," Five suggested.

Klaus didn't think about the many reasons they couldn't do exactly that.

"Aw, you do care!" They said instead and turned around to pinch Five's cheeks.

The reaction was quick. Five grabbed Klaus' wrists and pushed them away without letting go. The end result had Klaus pinned against the sink with Five holding their wrists tightly, toothbrush still hanging out of his mouth.

Klaus gulped, blinking their eyes harshly to force any tears away. They mentally berated themselves, telling themselves that this was just Five, that their brother didn't really want to hurt them and he especially didn't want to do _that_ , but they still had trouble controlling their breathing. They pursed their lips, watching Five with hawk-like eyes, his previous tiredness forgotten.

Eventually, Five relaxed and let go of Klaus. He took a step back and Klaus brought one hand up to nurse their wrist. 

"I was just messing around, christ," Klaus muttered, trying to ease the sudden tension that had fallen upon them.

"Don't," Five said. He removed the toothbrush, pushed Klaus aside and rinsed it, then put it in the holder.

The bathroom door opened and in stepped Ben, dressed and ready for bed. He quickly stopped in the doorway, eyeing both Five and Klaus with a frown.

"Is everything all right?" He asked.

"Fine," Klaus said and scooted passed Ben to make a hasty exit.

Ben didn't follow them and neither did Five, so, when they rounded the corner, they slowed to a regular pace and took the time to control their breathing. They felt ridiculous for panicking so much. It was just Five. Five, the brother who spent forty plus years in the apocalypse trying to find a way back home to save them all.

Shaking their head, they entered their room and closed the door softly behind them. They leant against it for a moment as they eyed their bed. They were the only one of their siblings that had an extra blanket, but that was because they'd gotten it himself after one too many nights of ghosts phasing through them and making them shiver. The extra blanket didn't do much in the way of keeping him warm when that happened, but they liked the extra weight, so...

Klaus pushed off the door and shuffled over to the bed, dragging their feet along with them. When they reached it, they slipped in and got comfortable before bringing the blankets up to cover their head. It was futile, they knew, but at this point, it was almost habit.

Though they were in bed and under the blanket, they didn't sleep. They couldn't and they wouldn't. Not when there was a strong chance of a visit from Hargreeves sometime soon. They didn't know when the last time their dad had come to visit them as it had been seventeen years since they'd been a thirteen-year-old, but they knew it had to have been a while because they'd been back in the past for a week now and so far, Hargreeves hadn't shown his face.

In the previous timeline, there was usually at least a two-week gap between visits (at most), which meant, Klaus either had another week to escape their father's grasp, or they would be getting a visit very soon. They didn't know which was worse. That Hargreeves had recently visited them in the first timeline, or that they (their thirty-year-old self in their thirteen-year-old body) would be visited any moment now.

They really wanted to sleep, though. They were exhausted. They'd been practically falling asleep on their feet for the past few days, and Ben had been shooting them concerned looks, but Klaus couldn't say anything. They certainly couldn't say why they were on the verge of passing out otherwise Ben would do something stupid like call forth the Horror and kill Hargreeves, and then where would they be? They needed to stick to the timeline otherwise the Commission would find them and the apocalypse would be back on. Probably. If they couldn't escape them again.

Klaus lay under their blanket for over two hours where they kept nodding off before their ears focused on a specific sound. The sound of heavy footfall trying to be quiet and a cane lightly tapping against the floor. They held their breath in fear as the footsteps got closer and closer, and closer, and then stopped, right outside their room. Silence.

Klaus gulped, breaths coming in fast and sharp. They childishly clamped a hand over their mouth and squeezed their eyes shut, praying their father would go away.

The door handle clicked as it was pushed down, and the door itself opened with a slow _creak_. Klaus could see the light from the hallway shining into their room and past the gap in their blanket. They watched as it slowly disappeared a second later along with the sound of the door shutting.

The footsteps drew nearer and Klaus held their breath, hand still over their mouth. The footsteps stopped by his bed and not even a second later, the blanket was torn away from them. They looked up with wide eyes, feeling more away now than they had in a week, and stifled a terrified sob at the sight of their father looking above them. He had forgone the monocle and wasn't wearing his blazer nor hat.

"Please," Klaus whispered, lips trembling with the cries they refused to let loose. "Please don't do this."

"Quit your snivelling, Number Four," Hargreeves ordered and grabbed Klaus' ankles.

Klaus immediately kicked out, adrenaline coursing through their veins. They wouldn't let this happen. They'd already been through it once before for eleven years, they wouldn't go through it again. They didn't even know why they'd allowed it to happen for so long in the first place, what had they been thinking? Had they liked it? Not the intercourse, but the attention they got when their father refused to pay them any, any other time? Is that why they allowed it to happen for so long?

"Number Four, stop thrashing about like a wild animal!" Hargreeves hissed, his grip on Klaus' ankles strong and unrelenting.

"No, get off me!" Klaus shouted.

Unfortunately, no one would hear them. Their room had been soundproofed when they started having nightmares after their first training session at the age of eight. The ghosts had gotten even worse after what had happened and they shouted crude words at them, implying that they had enjoyed what had happened, really. The mix between the screaming ghosts and the trauma from what their father had done had been the perfect recipe for nightmares where they would wake up, their throat sore and torn from screaming.

Hargreeves had soundproofed the room the next week after Allison had been caught rumouring him to sleep peacefully.

"Please! I'm begging you, please!" Klaus cried. They never thought they'd see the day where they begged their father for anything, yet here they were.

"I am starting to get the impression you want me to choose one of your siblings instead with the way you're snivelling," Hargreeves snapped at a particularly harsh kick to the stomach.

This gave Klaus pause. Why would Hargreeves say that? Unless... And suddenly Klaus remembered. They remembered exactly why they had allowed Hargreeves to abuse them for so long without doing anything about it. Because, at the age of nine when they'd had enough and couldn't bear it anymore, they'd put up a good fight. Hargreeves had gotten bored of it very quickly and had threatened to hurt Allison or Vanya instead. Klaus had quickly stopped fighting and allowed their father to do whatever he wanted.

Over the years, after Five disappeared, Hargreeves had stopped threatening just Allison and Vanya, and started threatening all of their siblings. After what happened to Five, they couldn't let any of their other siblings face what they were.

In their moment of hesitation, Hargreeves dragged Klaus so their legs were hanging over the side of the bed. He unbuckled the belt holding up his trousers and unzipped them. Though they were terrified and their heart was pounding heavily in their chest, they didn't protest anymore. They couldn't allow their siblings to be hurt.

As Hargreeves got to work, Klaus closed their eyes tightly and turned their head away. At least if their eyes were closed, they could pretend they weren't there. They could pretend they were back in a nightclub with Dave, drinking shots in a secluded booth as they got to know each other better and pursued their relationship.

When Hargreeves was finished after what felt like decades and had pulled his trousers back up, Klaus found the effort to pull their own underwear and pyjama bottoms up before shuffling back towards the wall their bed was pressed against. Hargreeves gave them a look that bordered on disgust then grabbed his cane and left, locking the door behind him. 

Klaus broke down into sobs.

* * *

The next day, Klaus didn't leave his room. Not because they didn't want to, but because their door was still locked and they literally couldn't leave. No one had come to bother them so they assumed they all thought they were doing personal training again. It was a well-known fact in the household that their training lasted a lot longer than their siblings'. While Five's or Diego's only lasted a few hours at most, Klaus' sometimes lasted a week.

Sometimes, if Hargreeves was feeling malicious enough, he would lock Klaus in their room for that entire week. He would give Klaus a few breakfast bars, tell them not to waste them, and leave. And Klaus couldn't even sneak out through the window either because if their father found out via the camera in their room, he would punish them as soon as they returned. He really would lock Klaus in the mausoleum.

Klaus had been in the mausoleum a few times in the original timeline and the ghosts in there had followed them home. They wouldn't stop screaming, wailing, and begging, every hour of the day, hence Klaus' drug addiction to block their own powers.

Staying in their room the entire day was boring and they were left to their own thoughts. They'd barely moved since the previous night, only doing so once to change their clothes. They'd long since thrown their blanket on the floor, disgusted at the sight of it and its lack of protection. They knew that was silly as it was inanimate and had made no promises that it would be able to protect them, but they'd gotten angry and could barely stand to be near it.

Their entire body ached, especially their thighs, wrists, and anus. Their father hadn't used any kind of protection or lubricant, so they were sore in places they'd prefer to not be sore. They couldn't sit up and the act of moving a few hours ago to change had been a strenuous task.

They'd long since cried themselves dry and had resigned themselves to staring blankly at the writing on their wall.

_I don't know who I am_

That was something a ghost had repeatedly whispered to them when they were younger. Klaus hadn't known what the ghost had meant back then because how could you not know who you were? But they thought they understood now because they didn't know who they were anymore either.

Were they Klaus, a thirty-year-old homeless drug addict with enough childhood trauma to fill a library? Or were they Klaus, thirteen-year-old superhero who was afraid of their own shadow and the ghosts who pleaded for their help? They didn't know.

Their door handle rattled and they tensed in alarm. Why was their father already returning? It had only been a day since his last visit? Had they done something wrong?

They looked up towards their window and realised that it was already dark. Apparently, they'd spent the entire day staring at the wall.

The door handle stopped moving and they relaxed slightly, believing maybe their father had remembered that he'd already punished them and left. 

As they turned their head to look behind them at the door, their sight was assaulted by a flash of blue light. They squinted for a second then their eyes widened at the sight of Five standing in the middle of their room. Their brother rose a curious eyebrow at the sight of them. 

"Five?" They questioned as they carefully sat up. 

"Klaus," Five noted with mild confusion, "I thought you were training."

"I was," they lied, "I finished up an hour ago, decided to try and get some sleep."

"Your blanket is on the floor."

"I was hot," Klaus deflected, then, a second later narrowed their eyes at their brother, "what are you doing jumping into my room anyway?"

Five shrugged, "I was hoping to borrow some paper."

"Paper?" Klaus asked sceptically.

"Yes. I seem to have run out."

"Why couldn't you borrow from Ben or Vanya?"

"I've already used theirs," Five admitted.

"Oh."

Five stared at Klaus, and Klaus stared back. Five's eyes ran up and down Klaus, and Klaus tried not to shrink under his gaze.

Then, Five made his way to the desk and rummaged through it until he found the paper marked with the Umbrella Academy logo. He took it from the desk and tucked it under his arms. 

"Why is your door locked?" Five casually questioned as he picked up a stray, unused piece of paper from the floor.

"I was tired, didn't want to be disturbed," Klaus told him.

"The others were worried about you today."

Klaus almost scoffed. Their siblings, worried about them? One hell of a joke if they'd ever heard one.

"Oh, yeah? And why's that?"

"No one likes personal training," Five shrugged.

He could say that again.

"Yeah," Klaus quietly agreed and looked away briefly. When they looked back, Five was scrutinising them again.

"You look like crap, you should get some sleep," he said.

"Yeah, I think I will," Klaus said.

They didn't mention the fact that they would probably sleep better tonight than they had since coming back, now that Hargreeves had shown his face. They didn't have to worry about another visit for a while now.

Five nodded.

"Goodnight," he said and jumped back to his own room.

"Night," Klaus said to the empty room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proof read so sorry for any errors.


	3. don't look at me and see a failure

When Klaus was finally allowed to leave their room the next day at dinner, they headed straight to the bathroom to relieve their bladder. It had been more than twenty-four hours since they went and it had been the only thing on their mind since midday the day prior.

Once their bladder was empty, they washed their hands, and, after a glance in the mirror, their face. They patted their face dry with the fluffy towel on the ring and then left the room to go join the others in the dining room. 

They tried to be as quick as they could because they'd already taken too long going to the toilet and washing their face, and God knows what Hargreeves would do to them if they took any longer. 

When they entered the room, their siblings were already there. The others looked up the second they put their foot over the threshold. Luther looked annoyed and Allison looked unsurprised. Diego, Ben, and Vanya looked concerned (Ben more than the others), and Five was scrutinising them once again.

Klaus shrank under their siblings' gazes slightly and hurried to their seat. Their father glared at them, clearly annoyed at their lateness. The second they reached their seat, Hargreeves let them all sit.

Klaus slowly lowered themselves into their seat, still feeling sore from the abuse they'd suffered the other day. As soon as they were seated, they sighed, taking a moment to get used to the pain. 

When the others were sat, they immediately began filling their plates with the delicious food their mother had cooked. There was a tray of meat, enough for everyone, and all along the table, there were different vegetables. Somewhere at the end, there was mashed potatoes and gravy. 

At the sight of the food, Klaus didn't feel hungry. They had no appetite and hadn't for the past week. They didn't know why; they just weren't hungry. Still, they filled their plate up with some food anyway, hoping they might find it in themselves to eat it. Or at least, some of it.

For the better part of the half an hour they and everyone else sat at the table, they pushed the food around their plate. They ate some of it, knowing that they needed to eat something and that their siblings were giving them looks, but they couldn't find it in themselves to eat all of it. 

When the silent dinner was finally over, they waited until the others had left before slowly rising to their own feet and being the last to leave. By the time they left the dining room, their siblings were already gone, either having not noticed they weren't with them or just not caring. Either way, Klaus shrugged it off and headed up the stairs. They needed a bath.

After making it to the top of the stairs and heading down the hallway passed theirs and the others' room, they stopped just outside Vanya's. They could hear their siblings in there, talking away. Talking without them. They must've noticed their lack of presence by now. After all, they were one sibling short.

Still, they weren't sure they even wanted to be involved in their apocalypse talk- if that's what they were all talking about, anyway. Anyway, they weren't really bothered about sitting around in a so-called meeting, only to talk about the same thing every day. They knew their role in preventing the apocalypse anyway. They were to take turns with the rest of their siblings in distracting their father, and when they weren't distracted Hargeeves, they were to sit back and act normal. They could do that easily.

Shaking their head, they turned away from the closed door to continue on their way to the bathroom. Before they could even take a step, though, they heard their name. It was Five speaking. They considered for a moment just walking away (it wouldn't do well to get caught eavesdropping), but then curiosity got the better of them. As quietly as they could, they shuffled closer to the door and leaned closer.

"-acting weird," Five finished.

"They always act weird," Allison said.

"No, I don't mean how they usually act," Klaus could hear Five pacing. "This is different."

"Different how?" Vanya asked. Klaus almost couldn't hear her she was so quiet.

"I don't think they've been sleeping. And they haven't been acting like themselves."

"I've noticed that," Ben added, and Klaus almost burst in and told him to shut up.

Ben being alive was probably the best thing to happen since the apocalypse, but it was also bad. Now that he was alive, he had free reign to say whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and Klaus couldn't stop him. If he felt like it, he could spill all of Klaus' dirty, little secrets.

"They've hardly spoken to me since we went back in time, and they're kinda on edge," Ben continued, "I think it might have something to do with special training."

"We all have special training, Ben," Luther pointed out, "no one likes it. Besides, they weren't like this in the previous timeline."

"How do you know?" Ben snapped.

"Well-"

Klaus rolled their eyes and stepped back. Their siblings couldn't be alone with each other for five minutes without arguing. Taking a deep breath and plastering on a smile, they barged into the room.

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late, but you know me," they giggled and threw themselves down beside Ben. They barely hid a wince as they threw an arm over Ben's shoulders. Their brother rolled his eyes and settled back, relaxing.

Luther sighed and slumped into his seat. 

"So, what's going on?" Klaus asked. "Do we have any more ideas on how to stop the apocalypse?"

Vanya shrunk slightly and looked away, guilt evident on her features. No one commented on it, but Allison did link their arms. 

"Not yet," Five shook his head, "I think we'll just have to go ahead with our earlier plan. Train Vanya's powers and keep Hargreeves distracted. When Vanya has suitable control over her powers, we go back to our own time specifically, a week before the apocalypse- Reginald's funeral."

"How long do you think it'll take to train Vanya?" Klaus couldn't help but ask. Their heart was fluttering with barely concealed hope. The hope of getting out of their living nightmare.

Five gave him a curious look, and Ben turned his head to stare, too.

"A few months, to a year. I can't be sure," Five told him. There was something in his voice that said he was sorry, yet his face otherwise.

Klaus nodded and stood. 

"I think I'm gonna go have a bath," they announced, "talk to you later."

"Do you want me to come?" Ben asked as he stood, too.

"Benny," Klaus gasped, "I knew you liked me but in front of the others? You minx."

"Not like that, asshole," Ben huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I know," Klaus laughed, "but I'll be fine, seriously. See you later."

With that said, they left the room and closed the door behind them. As soon as they were free, they sighed in relief and shook their head. As they turned and resumed their journey to the bathroom to finally take a bath, their siblings started talking again. This time, they didn't stop to listen.

When they entered the bathroom and put the stopper in the hole, they poured a generous amount of lavender-scented bubble bath in the tub as the water began to fill it up. The bubble bath was technically Allison's, but they used to use it all the time and she had never said anything, so they continued doing it.

A couple of minutes later, the tub was full and they stripped off their clothes to get in. As they removed their shorts and socks, they caught sight of the bruises Hargreeves had gifted them a few days ago. They were round and spread out around their thighs and ankle in the shape of fingertips. There were a few on their hip bones too, but not as prominent as the ones on their thighs.

Shaking their head, they removed their underwear and got straight into the hot water. They didn't want to think about their terrifying predicament any longer, and the more time they spent standing around staring at their marks, the more they would think about it. And, in their experience, nothing good ever came from them thinking about things. Things like this, anyway.

The best they could do was just take whatever their father was dishing and protect their siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a short chapter, but i had no real plan for it so I just let it flow and this happened.


	4. my mind is a battlefield littered with mines

From that day on, things continued like that. Klaus would attend their normal training sessions with their siblings, they would dine with them, they would show up for meetings to talk about the apocalypse, and they would hide the filthy marks left by their father after special training. It was tough, but they were managing and so far, none of them had noticed which was a bonus.

They had been in the past for almost half a year by the time anyone noticed anything, and, even then, it was an accident. A terrible accident that Klaus wished they could change if it would stop the others from being suspicious. They were putting up with this for them, after all, and they couldn't let them get hurt because they had been careless.

Still, that didn't change the fact that Vanya had walked in when they'd been getting changed and had seen the litter of multicoloured bruises on their body. She hadn't even let them explain before running off, most likely to find the others or to hide in her room and cry. That seemed like a Vanya thing to do. At least, it would have been had she not been gaining confidence since returning to the past.

After Vanya had run away, Klaus had hastily grabbed any shirt they could find and pulled it over their head. Then, they'd left their room and followed the general direction Vanya had scurried off.

They couldn't find her. They searched all the bedrooms, all of the useless rooms that the mansion held, all of the bathrooms, but she was nowhere to be found. Neither were the others. So, they reluctantly gave up and trudged back to their room to find something to do. Maybe listen to some music on their walkman or draw something. They loved drawing. They used to do it a lot when they were younger (actually thirteen, not thirty), but they'd stopped when they started taking more and more drugs to block out the ghosts.

Speaking of, ghosts had been the inspiration for most of their drawings as they had been around so often. They tended to draw the nicer ghosts, though, as the more viscous ones preferred to move about and scream at them rather than stand still and let themselves be drawn. There had been a lovely elderly woman who'd died in her sleep. She used to live down the street from where Klaus did and a month after her death, she'd presented herself to Klaus, but she didn't scream or cry, or beg Klaus to send her on. She accepted what had happened and Klaus had made friends with her. She enjoyed it when Klaus drew her and sat patiently every time.

Klaus briefly wondered if she was still around and would like to be drawn, or if they would have to find something else. They hadn't seen her lately, so probably.

When they re-entered their room, they sat down at their desk straight away. They shoved aside the teapot and slammed down a plain piece of paper that Five hadn't stolen. After rummaging around in the draws, they revealed a pencil with a sharp point. Well, sharp enough to draw for a while, anyway. After more searching, they found an eraser and placed it beside the paper.

Now, all they needed was something to draw. 

They turned around and looked around their room. It was quite messy, but it always had been so that was nothing surprising. Their bed was unmade and they quickly turned away. They hated the sight of it and it was nothing they wanted to draw anytime soon.

Up against the wall across from them was their wardrobe, open with their uniform on display and some other items of clothing spilling from the bottom. 

Pressed against the other wall was a shelf filled with books and records. Only the records had ever been used. Any books given to them by Ben or their father were placed on the shelf and never touched again. Reading wasn't their favourite pass time; that was more Ben and Five's forte.

They groaned and turned back to their desk. There was nothing to draw, not even a ghost.

Their door slamming against the wall startled them and they whirled around in alarm, only to see a sheepish looking Ben in the doorway. He shuffled into the room and closed the door with less force after a quick apology. 

"Benji! Just the ex-ghost I needed," Klaus grinned and got up to drag Ben over to stand beside the desk.

"What?" Ben asked.

"Stand there and don't move," Klaus told him. They sat back down at the desk and began drawing, glancing up at Ben every few seconds.

"You've started drawing again," Ben noted.

"Yup," they nodded, "I find it's very calming. Soothes the nerves."

"Well, good for you," Ben said, and when Klaus looked up they saw a small smile on his face.

"Thanks," Klaus looked back to their paper to hide their own smile.

They remained in silence from there, with Klaus' drawing beginning to take shape the more they drew. Ben stayed as still as he could, only moving every so often to itch or flex his fingers and toes from standing so still.

Eventually, when Klaus was starting to add more detail to their drawing with a different pencil that they'd managed to find, Ben spoke up.

"So," he started, "Vanya mentioned seeing you earlier."

"Oh, she saw me all right," Klaus grinned cheekily, looking up at Ben. They winked then went back to their drawing when Ben only rolled his eyes.

"Don't be weird, Klaus," Ben told him, but there was amusement in his voice. He was used to Klaus' jokes after a decade spent together.

"What did she say?" Klaus inquired curiously. They knew what Vanya had said, had spent fifteen minutes looking for her to try and prevent her from saying it.

"She said you were getting changed."

"Mhm. And?"

"And she saw bruises. On your torso and arms," Ben finished.

Klaus' hold on their pencil tightened marginally before they calmed themselves.

"Oh? Did she?" Klaus joked lightly, trying to take on a suggestive tone, but they knew it had come across weak.

"She did," Ben sighed. He relaxed from the position Klaus had put him in and crossed the room to the bed.

"Don't sit there!" Klaus quickly warned him before Ben could lower himself to the bed.

Ben jumped and froze, looking between Klaus and the bed. He stepped away slightly.

"Why?" He asked.

Klaus looked away and continued drawing, expertly avoiding Ben's gaze. Something must've shown on their face, though not what they would have expected, because a second later, Ben was making a disgusted noise.

"Ew, Klaus," he said and ended up perching on the edge of the desk instead, "you should let mom wash your sheets."

"No," Klaus shook their head. They wouldn't let their mother touch their sheets when they'd been tainted by disgusting acts. If the sheets were going to be washed, they would do them themselves.

"You're disgusting," Ben sighed. "That's good, by the way."

Klaus smiled at the drawing. It was almost done. 

"Thanks, man," they replied.

"So, where did you get the bruises?" Ben asked after a moment of silence between them.

"Oh, you know," Klaus shrugged, "out and about. The streets can be rough."

"Klaus, don't tell me you're... What about Dave?" Ben sounded disappointed, so Klaus stopped drawing for a moment and looked up. Their brother's eyebrows were pinched and he was frowning.

"No, I'm not. No one would give me anything because I'm too young," they said, "and I know. I want to see him. I do. It was just a small moment of weakness. It won't happen again, Benji. I promise."

The duo stared at each other for a few more seconds before, finally, Ben nodded, seeming pleased. He pulled Klaus in for a hug, oblivious to the way the latter tensed momentarily.

"I'm proud of you, Klaus," he said.

"Thanks, Ben," Klaus sighed. Tears welled in their eyes for unknown reasons but they wiped them away with their lead stained fingertips.

When they pulled away, they grinned at Ben. 

"Wanna go mess with Luther?" They asked hopefully.

For a moment, it looked like Ben might say no, but then he smiled too and nodded.

"Why not? What's the point in being alive again if I don't take advantage of it," Ben shrugged and hopped off the desk.

He held a hand out for Klaus and they took it, allowing Ben to lead them from the room and through the large house in search for Luther.

* * *

Hours later, when Luther and all of their other siblings had been suitably pranked and the sky was fading into darkness outside, Klaus threw themselves onto the floor beside their bed. They reached under said bed and pulled out a knitted blanket that Grace had made for them without Reginald's knowledge. Any gifts from their mother were prohibited because, according to him, it would give them the idea of being pampered.

Klaus didn't know why he thought that because they knew they were never going to live a pampered life and any gifts from anyone, especially their mother, were to be treasured and kept a secret.

Like their blanket, which they threw over themselves and held onto tightly. They didn't want to sleep in their bed, in the reminder of their own disgusting behaviour, so they'd settled for the floor. It wasn't hard sleeping on it, though. In fact, it was probably preferable after living on the streets so long.

When they felt comfortable enough, they glanced at their door a final time then allowed their eyes to drift closed... 

They weren't sure how much sleep they managed to get, but they knew that sometime in the night, when it was still dark outside, their door opened with that dreaded creak that sent their heart into a frenzy.

Their eyes opened almost as soon as their unconscious mind picked up on the sound, and they looked up towards the doorway where three figures loomed, silhouetted by the light in the hallway. They recognised the figures as Reginald, Pogo, and Grace.

The latter quietly stepped into the room and crouched down beside Klaus, and leaned a little closer so she was in his direct line of sight.

"Klaus, sweetie, it's time to get up," she told him gently.

Klaus was confused. They'd expected Reginald, of course, but not Pogo and their mother. 

"What's going on?" they directed the question at Reginald, but it was Grace that answered.

"Your father wants to spend some time with you; isn't that lovely?" She smiled, perfect white teeth surrounded by her ruby lipstick.

It wasn't lovely. They weren't sure what their father had planned for them, but they knew that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be anything pleasant. The only thing they could think of was the mausoleum. Usually, whenever Reginald took them to the mausoleum, Pogo accompanied them as the chauffeur.

They gulped and looked between the three adults in the room, their heart pounding in their chest.

"Can't it wait until morning?" They tried.

"No, it can't," Reginald finally spoke from the doorway, "hurry up and get dressed, Number Four, we don't have all day."

Klaus thought that was funny because it wasn't even day. It was night. 

Slowly, they nodded their head and untangled themselves from their blanket. They allowed Grace to help them stand and relaxed slightly into the hug she gave them before leaving along with Pogo.

That left Reginald and Klaus alone together. They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"Meet me in the foyer in five minutes," Reginald told him.

Klaus nodded and waited until their father was gone. When he was and they'd closed the door, they leaned against it and put their head in their hands.

They couldn't do it. They couldn't put up with this anymore. They had no idea what their father planned for them other than the fact that it might be the mausoleum, but that wasn't any comfort to them.

They couldn't do it anymore.

They just wanted everything to stop. For their father to leave them alone, to be back in their adult body, to just go back to the streets where the only thing they had to worry about was when they'd next be able to afford their drugs. Things were simpler then.

With a sigh, they looked around their room for their uniform. Best not leave Hargreeves waiting. 


	5. clawing at the walls of my doom, fingers bloody and bruised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Warning for implied rape/sexual abuse⚠️

When they were dressed, they rubbed their tired eyes and left the room. They walked through the hallways, hitting their feet on the floor a little harder than necessary in the hopes that one of their siblings would hear it and ask them where they were going. Of course, by the time they'd passed the other rooms and made their way down the stairs to the foyer, none of them had woken up and poked their heads passed the doors to question them.

Their father was waiting impatiently at the bottom of the stairs with Pogo beside him, both dressed and looking as if they were going to a very important meeting, though it was only two am. Klaus found themselves reluctantly coming to a stop in front of their guardians and playing with the hem of their blazer as Reginald gave them a disapproving once over. Klaus didn't know why he was disappointed or what they'd done this time, but the emotion was a familiar one on their father's face whenever he looked at them.

Reginald gave a curt nod, seemingly reassured about something, then turned tail and strode towards the doors to the Academy. When he was gone from the building and making his way to the car, presumably, Pogo grabbed their hand before they could follow the man.

"I'm sorry," Pogo shook his head sadly.

And then, at that moment as dread seeped into their pores like an ice-cold bucket of water, they came to the realisation that they were going to the mausoleum. By some blessing, they hadn't been there since returning to the past, but now they must have done something wrong because their father had seen it fit to send them off like some disposable.

Maybe they'd flinched at a ghost at the wrong moment and their father had seen. Maybe they'd sidestepped the ghost of a little chimney sweep, pity welling in their heart, and Reginald had seen it on the cameras. Either way, they'd clearly done _something_ because now they were being punished.

"Please," they desperately whispered to Pogo, "please don't let him put me in there. I won't survive. They'll tear me apart."

"I am sorry, my dear child. Truly," and Klaus knew he meant it because he had unshed tears in his eyes, "but you know I cannot do that. I have to follow your father's orders. Now, come on before Master Hargreeves notices we've been stalling."

Klaus slowly nodded their head in understanding. Yet, as Pogo began to lead them out of the house, they dragged their feet, hoping the ape would just give up and let them go back to bed.

They weren't in luck, though, as, sooner than they appreciated, they found themselves sitting in the back seat of Reginald's Mercedes with Pogo in the driver's seat. Reginald was sat beside Klaus, his cane lay across his lap as he stiffly stared ahead, refusing to even acknowledge Klaus' presence.

Subtly, Klaus tried to inch away from their father, putting some distance between them. Reginald didn't seen to notice, or care, as he continued to watch the dark road through the windshield. 

After what felt like an hour, but was probably only half of one, Pogo pulled up to the pavement and stopped the car. The engine died with a little splutter, and Klaus was forced to realise how loud it had been when suddenly everything was plunged into silence. With a pounding heart and a heavy amount of reluctance, they turned their head and looked out of the passenger window.

The graveyard sat just outside, innocent and holy to anyone else, but evil and hellish to them. It was loud, the ghosts' screams blissfully muffled by the closed car door, protecting them from their vulgar words and distraught screaming as they realised they were dead and begged someone to save them all.

But even they couldn't, so they gulped and turned away, pretending they hadn't noticed their father's exit from the vehicle. Pogo was still in the driver's seat, which confused Klaus a little, as they ape usually accompanied Reginald to the mausoleum, but they didn't question it. They didn't question anything their father did these days. 

_Tap, tap._

Klaus jumped and turned to the passenger window. Their father was there, removing his cane from the tinted glass. It was an order to leave the car. A glance behind Reginald showed that the ghosts were paying attention to what was happening outside the graveyard walls. They'd silenced with their curiosity.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, they mused as they reached an unsteady hand forward and began opening the door. They avoided staring in the direction of any ghosts, hoping the monsters wouldn't realise Klaus could see them.

It worked for the most part as they kept up the act whilst Reginald lead them through the gates and down the cobbled path that went straight to their doom. 

When they arrived at the mausoleum, Klaus was pushed inside by Reginald's hand in their shoulder. They stumbled a bit but managed to find their balance quick enough, keeping their head down to avoid the eyes of the ghosts appearing inside the mausoleum.

With a clenched jaw and a bit of anger bubbling in the pit of their stomach at the entire time travel situation putting them back in this position, they took a step forward to find the corner they spent so long in, in the first timeline. 

The mausoleum doors shut, removing all light except the thin strips peeking through the barred windows. 

They turned around then frowned in confusion. Their father was still there. He'd locked them both inside the mausoleum. 

"Remove your clothes, Number Four."

* * *

Klaus returned home the next day. Hargreeves had left them two hours after they arrived at the mausoleum. Apparently it wasn't enough to abuse them in their own room, the man had to take them to the root of their nightmares, and abuse them there, too.

Their body ached all over. From their father's abuse as well as the ghosts'. After Reginald had left, the ghosts had started calling them dirty, and wrong, and sick. Because they thought Klaus had enjoyed what Reginald had done to them. But they hadn't, and they'd told the ghosts as such. Then the ghosts finally realised they could see them.

Klaus' fear mingled with desperation and their newfound sobriety had activated their secondary powers and the ghosts had torn into them. Had sliced open their arms and cut into their torso, and grabbed at their already bloody thighs from their previous abuse.

And, well, Klaus had screamed. Cried and wailed, and pleaded, and, despite realising they sounded exactly like the ghosts, they hadn't stopped until they'd lost their voice. Until they'd screamed their throat raw and they couldn't scream for help anymore.

After what seemed like an eternity, they'd been dragged and tossed at the opposing wall, leading to a loss of consciousness. 

They awoke in the car the next day, lay across the back seats. Pogo and Reginald were in the front seats, both silent. 

When they arrived home, Klaus was sent straight to Grace. Neither Pogo nor Reginald accompanied them, but Klaus knew they'd be getting a visit from their father later on with an explanation for what happened demanded from them. 

Klaus stared blankly ahead, lying on the infirmary bed, as Grace stitched up their wounds. They barely noticed when the needle entered their flesh, only reacting a couple of times when the needle pierced a particularly sore point. And when Grace reached up to comfort them, they flinched away.

An hour later, when their wounds had been stitched and bandaged, Grace sat them up on the bed and, in an unusual, rare display of physical affection, she sat down beside them and pulled them in for a hug. They rested their head on her metallic chest, listening to the soothing, muffled whirring of the machinery that made Grace who she was.

Their eyes fell closed of their own accord, and if a tear slipped passed their lids, who were they to deny it?

"You've been awfully withdrawn lately, Klaus, dear," Grace noted quietly.

Klaus swallowed, realising suddenly that this was exactly the kind of concern and worry that they had wanted since coming back, yet hadn't asked for. They wanted people to ask them what was wrong, to hold them in their arms and just listen to them rant about their problems, but they didn't want to write on their forehead in sharpie that something was wrong before anyone even thought to ask them if they were okay. 

Still, they knew they couldn't say anything, no matter how much they wanted to. Their siblings' lives and wellbeings depended on their silence. And so did the future of the entire planet. 

So they shrugged, unsure how to reply. What did she want them to say? That their own father had been creeping into their room at night to make them his playtoy? That they're actually a thirty year old in their thirteen-year-old body, and the apocalypse is coming? That they selfishly wished their no-longer-dead brother was still dead so they didn't have to face all of this alone?

No, Grace didn't want to hear that. Or maybe she did. So she could help them. But they couldn't help but think that if they did unload all of their problems on her, her programming might just fail in shock. Maybe her eternal smile would finally fall as she looked at them with disgust in her electric blue eyes.

"I'm just tired," Klaus murmured against her chest instead. 

They didn't say why they were tired, though.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Ben demanded as soon as Klaus was allowed back to their room.

Ben had stopped him in the hallway just outside the infirmary. Grace slipped passed them as she exited the infirmary to most likely find Reginald and give a report on Klaus' injuries. They watched her go before turning their attention back to Ben, whose eyebrow was raised expectantly. 

"When?" They asked mildly. 

"You know when. Yesterday."

"Oh. Where do you think?" They moved passed Ben and started walking in the general direction of the foyer.

"No, I don't," Ben replied, "that's why I'm asking." 

"Out," Klaus told him.

"Where?"

They shrugged, then sighed.

"Mausoleum," they mumbled, just loud enough for Ben to hear as they both reached the foyer. They started up the stairs, a small limp to their step due to the stitches.

"I'm going to kill him," Ben stated suddenly and surely, a deep fury in his voice that almost made Klaus stop and turn, positive they would find the Horror rumbling beneath his clothes.

"As much as I would love to see that, Benny boy, truly, you know you can't," Klaus told him, and they spoke the truth. They would love to see their father bleeding out from several wounds on his treasured polished floors, but they knew Reginald had to die at the same time he had in the first timeline.

"Why not?" Ben demanded just as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Because," and Klaus finally stopped to face Ben, "like Five said, we have to keep everything the same as it was in the original timeline otherwise things will change, the Commission will find us, and we'll be screwed. The apocalypse will be back on, and then what?"

"I have to do something," Ben retorted passionately, "I can't just stand idly by and-"

"Yes, you can," Klaus interrupted him, "and you have to, Ben. Do you think I like going to the mausoleum? You can't think I like-" they breathed heavily through their nose, "look, you can't do anything. Everything has to stay the same as before if we want to prevent this stupid apocalypse."

Ben stared at them angrily, his arms wrapped around his stomach, before his eyes softened slightly and he forced himself to nod.

"Fine," he relented, "but if it happens again, as soon as you get home, I want you to come find me. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Klaus nodded with a small, appreciative smile.

"Promise me." 

"I promise," Klaus said almost immediately.

"Good. Now, let's go find the others," Ben told him.

Ben reached a hand out to guide them in the direction of their siblings, but Klaus flinched away on instincts they'd relearned since going back in time. Ben frowned in confusion, knowing Klaus wasn't one to deny physical affection.

"Sorry," Klaus giggled breathlessly, "guess I'm still a little jumpy."

"Oh, right, sorry," Ben genuinely looked apologetic, so Klaus forced themselves to get over their fear and take hold of Ben's hand.

"Don't worry about it, Benji," they told him with a shrug, "now, where are the others?"


	6. sun shinin' through the window, it's a hopeful day

Klaus sniffled as they lay on the floor of their room. It was as dark inside as it was outside, but Klaus found that they, once again, couldn't sleep. Their mind drifted back and forth between what had happened in the mausoleum and Ben's offer like a ping pong ball, never staying on one thought long enough for them to come to any conclusions.

They mulled over Ben's offer from earlier that day, wondering if their brother would still be awake at this late hour. Probably not, as Ben was a deep sleeper as of late. Either because of his new living, breathing state, or because the Eldritch Horrors had settled down since the previous timeline. Klaus hadn't really thought about it before, but they assumed that the Horrors had been there the entire time since before the time travel. They must've died with Ben and then come along for the journey after Five sent them all back.

It was weird to think about, but maybe that's why the tentacles had settled down; because they'd realised they weren't indestructible.

Before they could follow that train of thought, the thought of being indestructible would swing their mind back to the mausoleum. Specifically, what had happened yesterday with the ghosts. And with Reginald, but they tried to shive that somewhere deep in the back of their mind for the rest of their life.

Being indestructible would remind them of how their powers had flared up at the wrong time, illuminating all dark corners and revealing the hidden horrors lurking there, waiting for them to spot them before they lunged and attacked.

Which is excatly what the ghosts had done. There had been no hesitation when Klaus' hands had lit up blue; the ghosts had simply began clawing at them, slicing them open like a piece of meat on a cutting board.

Thinking back on it, Reginald had been right. Klaus had let their fear rule them and the consequences had left them bloody and bruised, slipping into unconsciousness before they could say 'ghosts'.

With an full body shiver at the sight of a ghost sitting in the corner of their room, they got up from the floor, shoving Grace's blanket back under the bed where it lived until they pulled it out at night. They crossed the room to the door and before they could change their mind, they opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

The floorboard just outside their room creaked loudly in the quiet, as if trying to alert the entire house that Klaus was somewhere they shouldn't be at one am (or whatever time it was). Holding their breath, Klaus waited for someone (Reginald specifically) to show their faces, to reprimand them for being out of bed so late at night. But no one appeared, so they sighed in relief and crossed the hall straight to Ben's room.

They knocked first, to be sure, but when Ben didn't call them in, they quietly pushed the doorhandle down and opened the door a crack, enough to peek inside. From what they could see in the dark room, Ben was asleep as they'd originally thought. One arm was hanging over the edge of the bed and the blanket was slowly making its way onto the floor. Ben's mouth was open as he snored lightly.

Despite their amusement, they managed to step into the room and close the door without laughing. They slightly wished they were in their own timeline so they could take a picture for Ben to see when he woke up. But then again, in their own timeline, Ben was a ghost and ghosts didn't show up on camera. Nor did they sleep.

On tip toes, they crept over to the bed and then lifted one leg up to step over Ben. The bed dipped and they looked towards their brother to see if he'd woken. Apart from a small crease in his brows, though, he was still asleep. Turning back to their task at hand, Klaus continued to climb over Ben until they'd successfully clambered onto the bed and were lay down behind their brother. Ben was still deeply asleep, snoring to his heart's content.

Taking the chance, Klaus shuffled a bit closer to Ben and then put one arm over him. When Ben still didn't wake, Klaus slowly closed their eyes, intent on finally getting a full night's sleep.

Or, six hours at least, considering they had to wake up at seven am. 

Still, sleep was sleep and if they could find that under the protection of their brother then who cared?

* * *

"Klaus."

Klaus groaned and turned over, burying their face into their pillow. 

"Klaus, wake up."

They pulled the pillow over their head.

"Klaus. It's half seven. You need to wake up."

Half seven? That didn't sound right. They always woke up at seven am sharp when Grace woke them up before Reginald could get his claws on them.

They reluctantly opened an eye and removed the pillow. That wasn't their wall. They turned over and caught sight of Ben standing by the bed. Looking around, they realised they were in Ben's bedroom, not theirs.

Oh, right. They'd snuck into Ben's room last night when they couldn't sleep. 

They gave Ben a sheepish smile.

"Oh, sorry, Benny boy," they chuckled and got up from the bed after shoving the sheets aside.

Before they could escape the room in their haste to get changed before breakfast, Ben's hand caught their arm.

"Hey, are you okay? I'm sorry I wasn't awake last night."

"Hey, no, it's okay, Benji," Klaus reassured him, "I'm fine. The ghosts were just a little restless last night, is all."

"Oh, is there anything I can do?" Ben looked sympathetic. He knew what the ghosts were like when Klaus was sober, having been a ghost himself not that long ago. But Klaus didn't want his sympathy nor his pity, so they shook their head.

"You already know there's not," they replied.

Ben sighed. 

"Anyway, I need to get dressed before Reggie gets angry," they giggled, but, even to their own ears, it sounded humourless and fake. God knows how it sounded to Ben.

Before Ben could say anything else, Klaus bounded out of the room, across the hall, and slipped into their own room.

Once the door was closed, they let out a sigh of relief. Day by day, it seemed it only got harder to keep everything going on to themselves. Why did Ben had to be such a good brother? Why did he have to actually take an interest in Klaus' life now? Back in the original timeline, their siblings had only ever included Klaus if Diego requested it. They were skeptical about Klaus' powers because they couldn't see the ghosts. They were reluctant to believe Reginald's words about the ghosts because, if they couldn't be seen by anyone else, were they really there?

It had only gotten worse as Klaus grew older and discovered drugs; not even Diego wanted to be seen with them. If they had the ghosts, their siblings didn't want to be near them. If they replaced the ghosts with drugs, the siblings didn't want to know them. They couldn't win.

But now, in the second timeline post-apocalypse (or pre, depending on your point of view), Klaus was painfully sober and still had the ghosts, and their siblings were actually making an effort to include not only them, but Vanya too. And Klaus sort of hated it because it was making everything harder than it had been before. They wanted to tell the others so badly about what Reginald was doing, but they couldn't. Because then they would get hurt and it'd be all Klaus' fault.

Still, as they pulled on their uniform, they remembered. They only had a few more months before Five figured out the equation and they could go back to their own time. Then, they'd only have to focus on the apocalypse and the Commission. Reginald would be dead and Klaus could take their mind off of him and onto what really mattered- saving the world.

The second they were dressed, Klaus bounded out of the room and towards the bathroom just down the hall, dodging Luther in the process. Their brother helpfully reminded them as they hurried away that they had ten minutes before they were all to be in the dining room ready for breakfast. They shot a "thank you" over their shoulder just as they slipped into the bathroom.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, they grabbed their toothbrush from its holder and ran it under the water. Then they squirted probably too much toothpaste onto the bristles in their hurry to be done with it so they weren't late. And then they started brushing their teeth, white foam dribbling down their chin and into the sink.

They spent around three minutes brushing their teeth and when they were done and had spat out the toothpaste, they bared their teeth in the mirror, admiring their pearly whites. They rinsed their mouth out with some water via a plastic cup on the side and then wiped their mouth using a small towel hanging on a ring. Their lips were red from the toothpaste.

Without another moment's hesitation, they left the bathroom and ran through the endless hallways, down the stairs and into the foyer, and then through more hallways until the reached the dining room. When they did, their siblings all looked up at their sudden arrival, but Klaus was eyeing Reginald's seat. The man wasn't there.

"To your seat, Number Four."

Klaus jumped and whirled around, only to come face to... well, chest. They looked up and saw Reginald's unimpressed face staring down at him.

"Sorry, sir," they apologised then ran to their seat.

Their siblings snickered, and Klaus gritted their teeth in mild embarrassment.

Reginald stalked over to his own seat at the head of the table opposite Vanya, and music started playing, courtesy of Grace as she put the needle on the record.

"You may sit," Reginald stated.

Klaus sat down in their seat in between Allison and Ben. Almost immediately, everyone tucked into their breakfast, already made by Grace before they'd arrived. Thankfully, the oatmeal was still warm and Klaus picked up their spoon, finally feeling their stomach's request for food, and brought it to their mouth.

Usually, Klaus wouldn't be a fan of oatmeal (they didn't really like the texture or how it looked), but if mom had made it, they'd eat it. They'd eat anything mom had made, really. Whatever it was, it always seemed to taste amazing. It was probably her programming, instructing her on how to make food properly, and all that jazz, but still, Klaus had never tasted better food than when they'd lived (or still lived) at the Academy.

They swallowed a spoonful of oatmeal, their stomach thanking them immensely almost immediately, and they found that they were thankful, too. What for, they didn't know. Perhaps it was that all siblings of the Academy were finally altogether again, none missing, or dead, or left out. Or maybe it was that they all finally had a chance to start over again, to rebuild their relationships and become better versions of what they had previously been. Either way, they were grateful. 

Breakfast was filled with the sound of classical music playing in the background, followed by the occasional clink of spoons in ceramic bowls as everyone filled their bellies. It was also filled with unusual stares from Reginald as Klaus tried their hardest to ignore the man or pretend they didn't know their father was staring.

They weren't sure why he was staring, or what they'd done this time. Reginald had never stared so openly before, especially not in front of anyone else. Usually, in the presence of other people, the man merely glanced at Klaus with disdain- like Klaus was a mere scuff mark on his perfectly polished shoes. But, for some reason, today was special, as the man with the monocle spent all of breakfast sending glances at Klaus, an unreadable emotion in his cold eyes.

Klaus had prayed that no one would notice the way their father kept staring at them, but, of course, nothing slipped passed Five- the one who was usually sending glares at the table. The time traveller must've spotted the looks when he had been sending Reginald one of his own distasteful glances at the man. And he surely must've seen the way Klaus had shrunk in their seat, obviously trying to hide away from Reginald's view.

It would have been an understandable reaction from anyone else. Vanya or Ben, for example. But, to their siblings, Klaus had never shrank away from their father's eyes. Not in public, anyway. So, they could kind of understand Five's contemplative expression.

When breakfast finally drew to a close fifteen minutes later, Reginald dismissed them with a wave of the hand as he stood up. Grace took that as her cue to cue the music, so to speak. Reginald was already gone by the time the record cut off with a small scratching sound as the classical music that no one but Reginald and Vanya appreciated stopped playing. 

Klaus pushed out from their seat and made to hurry out of the room and back to their own before they were all called back down for training, when someone grabbed them. They startled and turned around to see Five standing there with their arm in his hand. Ben was beside him, looking curious as to what Five was doing. The others were also there, just as confused as Ben.

"What was that?" Five asked, not wasting a second getting to what he wanted.

"What was what?" Klaus replied.

"Those glances the old man kept throwing you," Five elaborate.

"What glances?" Klaus pulled their arm out of Five's grip, only receiving some resistance before their brother relented.

"You know what I'm talking about," Five said, "what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Klaus retorted, "I don't even know what you're talking about, Five."

"You must've done something to piss off the old man," Five stated surely, an accusing frown on his face. 

"I haven't done anything!" Klaus snapped defensively.

Five and Klaus stared at each other for a moment, the others watching awkwardly, unsure what to do. Five and Klaus didn't usually clash- in fact, in the first timeline when they were younger, Five had shown a sort of protective streak towards Klaus. While he wasn't there to comfort Klaus after a nightmare, he was there to defend him in an argument with Reginald or against their siblings.

All of the siblings, actually, had been rather protective of Klaus in their own way. Some more than others, like when Allison rumoured Klaus to sleep when they hadn't done so in days, or when Vanya had taken the attention away from them after they'd returned from a night of partying and could barely stand uo let alone face their father. Or when Luther had noticed, when they were really young, that they could hardly focus on anyone but the ghosts, so he'd spoken extra loud to help them ground themselves.

None of them were really sure what it was that made them so protective of Klaus, as it was clear that they could take care of themselves (badly or not), they just knew that there was something making them do it. Klaus gave off this aura that they needed protection from something. They just listened to it.

With a sigh when it seemed Five wasn't going to say anything else, Klaus stormed away. They were sick of their siblings accusing them of pissing Reginald off, as if they wanted to ruin their plans on purpose. They didn't even need to do anything for Reginald to get pissed at them, the man just got pissed anyway. It seemed there was nothing Klaus could do that wouldn't piss the man off. And whether Klaus had done anything to warrant it or not, Reginald always seemed to want to punish them.

It wasn't Klaus' fault. They tried convinced themselves they didn't deserve it. That nothing they've done could ever warrant what they were experiencing. But it was hard to believe. Day by day, they began questioning themselves more on whether they actually deserved what was happening. After all, they'd done some really shitty things in the past. Some not too dissimilar to what they were already facing, all for the cause of a few pills to pop when the ghosts got too roudy.

So maybe they did deserve this. Maybe it was God's way of showing them that She didn't like them at all. She'd already told them that she didn't like them, but maybe this was just the icing on a cake that said 'Fuck You'. Perhaps they should have asked her about it when they died.

"Hey, Klaus," someone called.

Klaus stopped on the stairs and turned to face Allison. She was alone, the other siblings probably still in the dining room. 

"What, have you come to accuse me of shit, too?" They hissed, and maybe it was a little harsh judging by the mild offence on their sister's face, but they didn't care.

Like they'd said, they were sick of their siblings accusing them of shit they hadn't done.

"No, of course not," Allison said as she joined them on the same step. "I was just wondering if you'd like to do each other's makeup?"

"What?" Klaus questioned. They hadn't done each others makeup since they were actually teens.

"Yeah. We've got half an hour before training. I think that's enough time."

"Really?" Klaus asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. Truth was, they'd missed the little things like this from their childhood.

Doing Allison's makeup and letting her do theirs was probably the best thing to come out of their childhood. In fact, letting their sister do their makeup was a real eye opener for them and had helped them on the path to who they were today. Allison had been the first person Klaus had come out to.

It had been just gone midnight and they'd been staying up to play dress up and do each other's makeup as they put on a fashion show. Klaus had been slowing getting more and more confident with themselves the more they spent time with Allison, wearing makeup and her skirts. They were still scared, though, as they finally sat down on the bed with her and admitted they liked boys as well as girls. That they probably liked boys more, actually.

They'd been terrified of rejection in that moment. Of judgement. That Allison would take away all of the pretty clothes she'd let them wear and send them back to their room, then never speak to them again. That she'd laugh at them and tell the others, and then they'd all laugh and judge them. That Reginald would find out, sooner or later, and their father would punish them.

But none of that had happened. Allison had been the best sister they could have asked for. She'd told them that it was okay, and that they could like whoever the hell they wanted, and that no one else could tell them otherwise. That who they liked just made up who they were, and it was nothing to be ashamed of. And then she'd tackled them and shoved a tiara on their head before Klaus could thank her. 

Their confession to Allison had given them to confidence boost they needed to come out to the rest of their siblings. One by one, they went through the house in the next week and came out to them. Each and everyone of their siblings had accepted them and told them they were proud. They even came out to Mom for good measure, and, though they were sure she didn't really understand why they felt the need to tell her which kind of people they liked, she'd still been supportive and had baked them some cookies. They'd considered coming out to Pogo, but they weren't sure whether the ape would tell Reginald, so, despite wanting to, they hadn't told him.

"Yeah," Allison smiled at them, breaking them out of their train of thought.

Klaus shifted slightly from foot to foot, considering it. A few seconds later, after a decision that wasn't very hard, they decided 'why the hell not?'

"Okay, but only if I can also paint your nails," they told Allison.

"I thought that was already part of the deal," Allison laughed and headed up the rest of the stairs, leaving Klaus to follow.

"Hey, I was just making sure," Klaus grinned.


	7. broken eyeshadow pallets and crushed lipstick

Klaus sat cross-legged on Allison's bed, rummaging through her sparse makeup. At the age of thirteen, she'd managed to pull many strings and get all kinds of things that they and the other siblings hadn't been allowed, but she was always careful about it. She never had too much makeup just in case their father found out, and any clothes that weren't worn at interviews, she hid in the back of her closet.

But for the special occasions where she and Klaus played dress up or did each other's makeup, she took out all of her accessories and let Klaus go crazy with them. Despite their eccentricity, though, they always managed to make her look beautiful, in a mad kind of way.

They rummaged through the makeup until they found a small eyeshadow pallet at the bottom of the makeup bag. It was certainly nothing like the ones from their own time period, but it was something and Klaus could make do with what they had. 

So they took it out and placed it beside them whilst they looked for the lipstick they'd seen a second ago. When they found the red lipstick, they took it out and rested it beside the eyeshadow. After that, they located some mascara and eyeliner. They were going to make Allison look like the moviestar she had once been.

"Okay, sit down," they ordered her and, with a barely suppressed smile, she did so.

They put their hand in front of them and closed one eye, much like an artist would do before painting a portrait. Allison laughed and rolled her eyes before moving their hand away from her face.

"So, I was thinking maybe some reds and golds," Klaus mused as they opened the eyeshadow pallet. They already knew each colour on the pallet by name, having used them all so much back in their youth, "maybe a bit of silver in the corner of your eye."

"You do what you think will look best," Allison smiled.

Klaus hummed and stared at the colours before deciding he would do what he'd said. Red and gold went so well together.

They picked up the stick and gathered some gold eyeshadow on it, then began gently applying it to Allison's closed eyelids. The pigment definitely wasn't as good as they remembered, but it did the trick as slowly, they painted Allison's eyelids gold.

When they were done with the gold, they used the other end of the stick to get the red eyeshadow. They put it on the outer side of her eyelids until her eyelids were blended into a beautiful contrast of red and gold. Likd they'd considered doing, they gathered a bit of silver eyeshadow on their finger and put it in the corner of her eye, just to mix it up a bit.

For a second, they admired their handiwork. It looked good, they thought. Better than the mess they'd used to make when they were a kid. Allison had been no better either. Speaking of, could Allison even do her own makeup? After all, she'd used to live the life of a celebrity, that meant people used to do her makeup for her, right?

"Okay, now for the eyeliner," they told Allison.

"How does it look?" Allison asked and almost opened her eyes.

"Woah, no peaking, Ally!" They quickly covered her eyes without touching them.

"Okay, okay, they're closed," she batted their hand away.

"Good," Klaus nodded, "just keep them closed 'till I say you can open them."

"Fine," Allison groaned, tilting her head back a bit with drama.

"Keep your head still," they ordered, the eyeliner in their hands and ready for use.

"Yes, dad," Allison mocked as she tilted her head forward. 

Klaus pursed their lips and fell silent at the jab. They knew it wasn't a personal remark at them exactly nor could Allison know about them and Reginald, but, still, it kind of hurt to hear her comparing them to their father, even if she'd been joking.

They looked down at the eyeliner in their shaky hands and focused on gathering some of the black liquid on the stick.

When they looked back to begin applying it, Allison was watching them.

"Close your eyes," they quietly ordered.

With some hesitation, Allison slowly closed her eyes, allowing Klaus to do her eyeliner.

"I'm sorry," Allison said as Klaus applied her makeup.

"For what?" Klaus asked.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't upset me," Klaus lied and had to remove their hand as it as beginning to tremble. They pretended to be gathering more eyeliner.

"You looked upset," Allison noted.

"I wasn't," Klaus continued putting on her eyeliner, "I just..."

"Just what?" Allison prompted.

"Just- don't compare me to Hargreeves," they went with.

"Since when was it 'Hargreeves', not 'dad'?"

"Since I realised what an abusive asshole he is," Klaus shrugged even though she couldn't see it.

Allison laughed lightly, causing Klaus to almost mess up her makeup. They _tsked_ , and she stopped.

They continued doing each other's makeup in almost silence after that, content to simply spend time with one another after working so hard to stop the apocalypse the past few months.

The silence was only broken half an hour later, when Allison was applying their mascara. 

"You've been kind of distant with us all lately," she pointed out.

Klaus looked away, even though she was directly in front of them and still doing their makeup. 

"Have I?" They replied.

"Yeah, it feels like we barely see you anymore," Allison began, but Klaus cut her off.

"You're seeing me now," they pointed out.

"And you've been having a lot of special training," Allison continued with a pointed look.

Klaus pursed their lips and pulled away from Allison, turning to stare at the wall as she spoke to them. They tuned her out for the most part as they squashed down the part of themselves that wanted to just interrupt her right now and explain why they've been distant and what exactly their special training was, and that they just wanted some goddamn help. Why couldn't they see that? Why did it feel like they had to say the exact words for them to notice?

They didn't want to say the fucking words, they just wanted someone to notice!

Allison was still talking but Klaus breathed out heavily through their nose and stood. 

"I don't want to do this anymore," they muttered to themselves as they stalked to the door.

They didn't know whether they were talking about special training or the makeup. 

"Klaus?" Allison inquired, following them to the door.

"Training is in ten minutes," they informed her, "you should get ready."

And then they left, the door closing behind them, as they moved down the hallway to head to their own room.

* * *

Klaus took fifteen minutes to get ready. They had to wash off the makeup they'd let Allison apply to their face and, as they'd said before, the makeup from their youth wasn't as good the few pallets they owned as an adult. This one had slightly stained their eyelids and they didn't have any makeup remover like Allison, so they'd spent fifteen minutes in the bathroom, scrubbing their eyelids to get rid of the eyeshadow and eyeliner.

By the time they finished, their eyes were red and there was still a little tint of blue over them, but there wasn't much they could do until Allison let them borrow her makeup remover. Plus, they were late for training and they couldn't hang about anymore, so they tossed the wet flannel in the hamper to be washed and exited the bathroom at full speed.

They ran down the hallways, their shoes clacking on the floor as they went, until, a minute later, in record time, they found themselves outside the training room. They took a moment to catch their breath, listening to the sounds of their siblings sparring from inside the room. They hated this part of training. They hated fighting altogether, which always led to them being beat by the others in their refusal to put up a proper fight.

It's not that they couldn't fight- of course not, they'd had the same training as the others, after all- it was more that they didn't see the point. What was the point if, on missions, they were always put on lookout? If they had their siblings to take down the enemies with their powers? If the enemy didn't even pay attention to them because they knew they had no useful power?

It was pointless. 

And they were more of a pacifist, anyway. Why fight when you didn't need to?

With their breath back, they straightened up, did a mental preparation, and stepped into the room. Almost immediately, as soon as their siblings spotted them, they stopped what they were doing. 

That didn't please Reginald, though, as he quickly ordered them to continue training. Only Diego wasn't fighting the others, as he didn't have his usual partner. Instead, he was throwing knives into a punching bag with a target taped onto it.

"Number Four," Reginald addressed Klaus, "are you aware that you are now seven minutes late?"

"Yes, sir," Klaus nodded.

"And what, pray tell, is your excuse this time?"

"I didn't realise the time, sir," Klaus lied.

"Do you not have a clock on your wall? Or are you so incompetent that you have simply forgotten how to read it?"

From the corner of their eye, they saw Vanya, beside Reginald as usual, duck her head to hide an amused grin. They almost turned to her then and there and told her to shut up, but they quickly smothered that urge.

"I do, sir," Klaus answered the first question.

"Then why didn't you use it?" Reginald demanded.

Klaus didn't have an answer for that. Why hadn't they used it? Because they were actually in the bathroom trying to remove their makeup. But they weren't about to tell Reginald that anytime soon.

"Join your brothers and sisters, Number Four. I want to see you in my study after training," Reginald waved his hand in a dismissive nature.

Despite the way their knees suddenly felt like jelly, and the way their stomach did a somersault, suddenly protesting the food residing there, they managed a mute nod to their father, and shuffled away to go and greet Diego.

By the time they reached their brother, Diego had stopped attacking the target with his knives and was stood waiting for them. Klaus gave a little wave with the hand that used to (in the future) say HELLO.

"W-what took you so l-long?" Diego asked as they both got into their ready positions.

"I was washing my makeup off," Klaus told him.

Diego eyed their face.

"Y-y-you didn't do a very good j-job of it," he pointed out.

"Yeah, no shit."

That signalled the end of their conversation. Without wasting another second, they began sparring on the mat, both of them trying to gain the upper hand and deafeat the other.

Though Diego was a much better fighter after continuing his vigilante work after leaving the Academy, Klaus was more agile and quick following a long decade of evading ex drug dealers and the cops. All of these qualities, however, made for a very interesting fight between Two and Four.

Neither of them wanted to give in, both too stubborn to do so, as they both fought tooth and nail against each other. Every so often, it would seem like one of them was getting the upper hand, only for the other to suddenly turn things around.

This went on for a while, until, eventually, Klaus found themselves running out of energy and Diego used that to his advantage. He kicked one leg under Klaus', thus tripping the latter to where they fell flat on their ass. They grunted, the wind almost knocked out of them from the rough landing, and looked up at Diego with annoyance.

"Rude," they huffed good-naturedly.

"Y-you p-p-p-put up a good f-fight," Diego said, holding a hand out for Klaus.

Klaus took the offered hand and, when they were on their feet, smirked.

"Why thank you, mi hermano. I suppose you weren't too bad either," they joked.

"Ha-ha, s-still won, though, d-didn't I?"

"Only cause I let you."

"Yeah, sure y-you d-d-did," Diego shook his head, an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I _did_ ," Klaus retorted with a cross of their arms.

"Number Four, Number Two," Reginald's voice cut into their conversation, and the pair straightened, turning their heads in the direction of their father.

Klaus tensed at the annoyed scowl on the man's face and the way his hands were whitening around his cane. 

"Less of the dilly dallying! You still have an hour left."

"Sorry, sir," Klaus nodded in time with Diego.

Diego looked to them with a raised eyebrow as they got back into position to continue fighting.

"W-w-what, no snarky c-comment t-today?" Diego asked and then lunged forward.

Klaus didn't reply, instead focusing all of their attention on the fight. Diego didn't pursue the conversation, either, simply content to kick Klaus' ass again.

* * *

It was twelve hours later, when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, when Klaus found themselves once again awake when they shouldn't be. This time, they weren't in their room. This time, they were in the bathroom. Specifically, the bath. The water was lukewarm and the light was off, leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the room through the windowpane.

Klaus stared blankly ahead of themselves, at the wall opposite them. Ghosts surrounded them, leaving them no privacy even when they were in the nude, trying to bathe. Trying to clean themselves of the filth their father had left all over their pale skin after their recent punishment in his study. 

Their wrists, hips, and thighs were tainted with blues, greens, and yellows, and their ankles were marked with red lines. The bath water was dyed with their red blood, making it a faint shade of pink. Their occasional tears dribbled down their cheeks and mingled with the pink water, resulting in small, barely noticeable ripples.

They felt... They weren't sure. They just felt too much. Too dirty, too guilty, too disgusted, too fragile, frustrated, filthy. Just too, too, too. Too much of everything. They felt too wrong. 

That's what they were. Wrong. They were wrong, wrong, wrong. 

And they-

They couldn't take it anymore. 

Oh. 

They couldn't take it anymore.

That sudden realisation was like a bucket of cold water being thrown straight at their face, seeping in through their pores into their very being. Their exhausted soul. 

They were tired. Physically, emotionally, and mentally. They just couldn't do it anymore. 

They couldn't take their father's abuse anymore, couldn't take the ever more frequent visits in the dead of night where they had no hope of being saved because they couldn't tell. They couldn't tell because then their siblings would be hurt, too, and they didn't want that. 

They couldn't take the literal redo of their childhood where they had to hold their tongue and abide by the rules, and be their usual perky, energetic self all over again just to save a world that had never done them any favours.

And they couldn't take being alone again. Since returning to the past, they had grown more distant with their siblings, subtly allowing Vanya to replace them. They had to do it to protect them. If they remained by their sides any longer, they didn't know what kind of sick secrets they would spill in their desperation to be saved. It was easier to just... stop being there. Besides, Vanya fit in with the others more than they did, so it wasn't like they would notice what Klaus was doing.

Klaus sighed heavily, the water rippling beneath their nose. 

They just couldn't stand their life anymore. It didn't feel like they were living. It felt more like they were carrying a bag of bricks on their skinny back. And it was too heavy. It was weighing them down, breaking their spine and crushing them before they could make a sound and beg for someone to save them.

The water covered their nose, air bubbles escaping their nostrils. 

They closed their eyes and allowed themselves to slip all of the way under.

They couldn't take it anymore. 


	8. ripples meet soaked sleeves

_"What do you think you're playing at, Klaus?"_

_Klaus opened their mouth and choked up warm water. It splattered down their chin and throat, then seeped into the collar of their shirt._

_They opened their eyes and looked around. Everything was... grey. That wasn't right. Why was everything grey?_ _They turned to their left, sensing a presence, and came face to face with a familiar little girl._

_Her long hair was pushed back with a checkered headband and She wore a pair of sunglasses on Her face. Instead of the dress She'd been in when Klaus had last seen Her, this time She was wearing a pair of white leggings and a flowing, white, lace shirt. A bow was tied around Her wrist, complimenting Her headband._

_"What?" Klaus replied in response to Her question._

_Then they frowned. Their voice was... deeper. Familiar. Oh. They looked down at themselves, finding their body older than the thirteen year old one they'd been in last time they checked. They brought their hands up and found themselves staring at their tattoos. A look down at their torso and legs revealed the same outfit they'd been wearing before going back in time (as far as they could remember). Dave's dogtags were hung limply around their neck._

_They looked the thirty years old they should be, rather than the thirteen years old they physically were._

_"You killed yourself," the Girl stated bluntly._

_"Did I?" Klaus sighed, clambering to their feet._

_"You know what you did," She returned._

_"I suppose. Hey, so am I dead again?" Klaus changed the subject._

_"That's what happens when you drown yourself."_

_"Oh. Well, good."_

_"You can't stay here."_

_"Why can't I? What have I got waiting for me down there?" Klaus snapped, patience wearing awfully thin._

_"I need you alive," She said simply._

_"But why? You never explain. I don't want to go back, you're telling me I have to, but not_ why. _Just tell me."_

_"To put it simply, you play a major role in stopping the apocalypse."_

_"Me? Playing a_ major _role? I think you've confused me with Five."_

_"No. I know all of my creations. You're Number Four, better known as Klaus, and you need to be alive to stop the apocalypse."_

_"Okay. If I play a major role in the whole apocalypse thing, then why did we have to go back in time? I'm not sure if you noticed, but the apocalypse already happened. We failed. I failed."_

_"Oh, that?" The Girl rolled her eyes. "Those were just some technical difficulties. The apocalypse will still happen in seventeen years, but not if you live. Soon, your part will come into play and the apocalypse will just be a distant memory."_

_"But what do I have to do?" Klaus asked. "I mean, Five spent forty years in a wasteland trying to stop the apocalypse, how is it I managed to do it? What do I do?"_

_"It's because of Five that you're able to prevent the apocalypse. And I can't tell you that. I can't be allowed to influence your actions. If I tell you, you might try and stop it."_

_"Why would I want to stop it? I mean, the whole point is trying to_ prevent _the apocalypse. Not allowing it to happen."_

_"Those things can become unimportant in the moment. All you need to know is that you have to live in order to play your part."_

_"Okay, fine, fine," Klaus waved their HELLO hand nonchalantly, then looked around at the landscape._

_The surroundings were different to where they'd found themselves last time they'd died. Last time, they'd been on a pathway in some kind of forest. Now, they were in a monochrome field. The grass was short, as if just trimmed, the sky was clear, and in the distance, over the horizon, they could see tree tops._

_"If I have to go back to that shithole," they ignored the way She rolled her eyes at their cussing, "can I make a request?"_

_"No, but you're going to anyway."_

_"Can I see Dave? I mean, this is Heaven, right? So, he's got to be around somewhere."_

_"There's no time."_

_"What do you mean there's no time?" Klaus demanded with frustration. They hadn't forgotten last time, when She'd given them false hope of seeing Dave only to be literally planted right at their father's feet._

_"You've been dead for six hours now. Your siblings will be waking in an hour."_

_"So? That's one whole hour of being with Dave!" Klaus gestured wildly._

_"Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Here, wherever that is, time works differently," She shrugged._

_"I don't care! Let me see Dave!"_

_She huffed and crossed her arms._

_"Listen here, Number Four," She began, "you don't get to talk to me like that. I've already revived you once and I'm going to revive your stupid ass again in a minute just so you can stop an apocalypse your idiot sister-"_

_"-woah."_

_"caused. Now, I could have minded my business and let her wipe out all life on Earth as we both know it, but instead, I'm here talking to you because you're selfish enough to kill yourself. I could just let you wander off and find your stupid boyfriend, thus allowing Seven to kill everyone, but I won't. So, you don't get to talk to your creator like that when I'm only trying to help."_

_"Help?" Klaus giggled breathlessly. "You're trying to help someone you hate?"_

_"I don't-"_

_Klaus cut Her off, "you want to help me, yet you gave me an abusive piece of shit father! You gave me siblings I only got to see at weddings and funerals, a mother who can't even love me-"_

_"Technically, I didn't-"_

_"No, shut up!" Klaus shouted, tears of anger welling in the corners of their eyes. "Do you know what I've had to go through this past year? Well, I suppose you do, being_ omniscient _and all."_

_"Klaus, I don't control what my creations do. I gave you all free will."_

_"I know, I just- the things he's doing. Can't you make him stop? You're God. I mean, you created Earth in three days, what's getting rid of one tiny man?"_

_"I'm sorry, Klaus, I really am, but I can't interfere with what happens on Earth. What happens, happens."_

_"Please," Klaus near whimpered, "look, I'll do anything. I'll go back, I'll prevent the apocalpyse, anything. Just- get rid of him. Please."_

_She turned away, a far off look in Her eyes. Then, she turned back to Klaus and sighed._

_"I'm sorry. Truly. But time's up. You have to go back."_

_"Wa-"_

* * *

"Please let me in," Vanya requested, her forehead resting on the wooden bathroom door, "you've been in there for ages and I really need the toilet, Klaus."

As expected, there was no answer, only silence. She'd been knocking on the door for almost ten minutes now and she still had yet to receive an answer. She knew it was Klaus as, one, they were the only one in the house who locked the door, and two, she'd seen everyone else this morning.

Unfortunately, the other bathrooms that they were allowed to use were already being used by the others, leaving her stood outside this one, begging Klaus to let her use it before her bladder gave up on her. She could technically go and wait for someone else to finish in the bathroom, but Klaus had been in this one for a while now so she still held onto the hope that they would leave any second.

"Klaus, please!" Vanya knocked on the door hard, three times, letting them know how displeased she was.

"Vanya?"

Five's voice had her turning around in surprise. She hadn't heard him appear.

"What's going on?" Five asked.

"I really need the toilet, but Klaus won't let me use it," she reported as she resorted to leaning against the wall to let Five approach the door instead.

"Klaus, open up or I'm coming in!" Five threatened at the closed door.

Usually, that would get Klaus to leave the bathroom in a second, an amused grin on their face at the fact that they'd successfully riled their siblings, but, strangely, this time they didn't make a peep.

Five and Vanya shared raised eyebrows before Five turned back to the door, rattled the handle, then jumped away.

Vanya distinctly heard the sound of him reappearing on the other side of the closed door, followed by a loud curse word.

"Five? What's going on?" Vanya asked worriedly, pushing off the wall to step closer to the door.

From the other side of the door, she could hear water splashing, landing on the tiled floors, and then someone hitting the floor. She frowned in confusion, listening closer.

"Get mom!" Five's voice rang out, loud and clear with an order.

Vanya's eyes widened in fear and the need to know what was going on, but she nodded her head unseen, and scurried off down the hallway to go and find Grace, bladder forgotten.

When she reappeared with Grace, Ben, and Allison in tow, the bathroom door was open and she could see Five knelt down on the floor. Though he was in front of them, Vanya could also spot Klaus lay on the floor.

As she reached the doorway, she took not of Klaus' half naked body, what wasn't covered by the white fluffy towel that Five had probably thrown over them for decency. Their skin was pale, even moreso than usual, and their paleness illuminate the injuries on their body. 

Around both their wrists were a ring of bruises in the shape of a hand, and on their ankles there were scratches made presumably by nails. They looked like they had when she'd aaccidentally walked in on them getting dressed.

She hadn't noticed before, either, but looking at their face, she found their eyes tainted by dark circles, looking if they hadn't slept in a year. 

She didn't know what had happened to Klaus, but her heart shattered at the sight of them. 

Grace headed straight into the bathroom, her heels clacking loudly on the tiles, and crouched down beside Five and Klaus.

"Oh dear," she cooed.

Five's head was in his hands, his arms resting on his knees as he breathed deeply, his back extending every so often with heavy breaths then shakily deflating as he exhaled. Vanya had never seen Five cry before, yet she was sure the man was crying now.

Grace placed two fingers against Klaus' pale throat and all of the children, but Five, held their breaths in anticipation.

Seven long seconds later, and Grace slowly removed her fingers from Klaus' pulse point. She rested her hand in her lap, looking the picture perfect house wife she was designed to be, though she was no longer smiling.

"I'm so sorry, children," she began, "but I fear I am too late."

Vanya's eyes widened in horror. She felt like she'd been torn from her own body and thrown into an ice bath. She hardly noticed the way Ben barged psssrd her and threw himself down beside Klaus, sobs wracking his body, nor the way Allison covered her mouth to stifle her cries.

Everything felt too far away, and too loud all at once. Nothing made sense, yet she knew that Klaus was dead. Her sibling was gone. She and Klaus had never been overly close, not like Diego, Ben, and Klaus had once been, but she cared for them. Still loved them. Even when she'd outed them in her book about all of the times they'd ignored her or left her our, she'd still loved them.

She'd never stopped loving any of her siblings, not even Luther, and she just couldn't imagine losing any of them. When Ben had died, she hadn't known what to do with herself. It was like a part of her had been lost, like she was no longer living. She was just going through the motions.

Now she had Ben back, and she'd lost Klaus instead. 

With breaths that echoed in her ears and steps that were either tol heavy or just too loud, she moved over to Five and crouched down beside him.

"Send us back again," she ordered, "you brought Ben back, you can bring Klaus back. Send us back."

"I can't," Five shook his head, "it's too unpredictable. I might not be able to prevent their death as I don't know what caused it. Plus, I don't know how long it'd take for me to work out the equations."

"Equations?" Ben spoke up, voice cracking. "You brought all seven of us back last time without any damned equations. You even brought me back to life. Why is now any different? Send us back, Five, or I swear to God-"

"Ben," Grace cut in chastisingly, oblivious to the topic of their conversation, "that's no way to speak to your brother, is it?"

Ben clamped his mouth shut and turned away to continue brushing Klaus' hair out of their face.

"Please, Five," Vanya continued desperately, "please. You have to take us back. You can prevent this. You can stop this from ever happening."

"I know! I know I can, but it's too unpredictable! We might not even end up back here, we could end up in the middle ages for all we know!" Five argued.

"But if there's a chance," Allison spoke up, "if there's a chance we won't, and we can save Klaus."

Five suddenly looked conflicted, as if weighing the pros and cons in his mind. He put his head in his hands again, thinking silently to himself.

"Christ on a cracker!"

Allison fell back with a startled yelp, Vanya gasped then choked, and Five cussed loudly, earning himself a warning from Grace.

Klaus sat up in the middle of the small gathering, looking around at them all with confusion as they gulped in air.

"Klaus, you asshole!" Ben exclaimed and wrapped his arms around Klaus from behind. Klaus, in turn, rested their hands over Ben's arms. "I didn't think you were coming back this time." 

"What the fuck?" Five demanded.

"Children!" Grace frowned disapprovingly.

"Sorry, mom, but Klaus is alive," Ben shrugged.

"Yes, they are, and I'm sure they're very hungry after this ordeal," Grace smiled lovingly, "breakfast is in half an hour, children."

Grace stood up from the floor and exited the bathroom to go and continue preparing breakfast.

As soon as she was gone, the children all turned to Klaus and began bombarding them with questions. 

"What the hell just happened, Klaus?" Five demanded.

"Are you okay?" Vanya asked.

"You were just dead, what the hell?" Allison stated.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Ben questioned with a laugh, still clinging to Klaus.

"Yeah, I know," Klaus returned.

"What were you thinking, Klaus?" Five cut in.

"To be fair, I wasn't," they responded.

"Great," Five rolled his eyes and rose to his feet.

"What happened to your wrists?" Vanya quietly asked with concern.

Over Ben's shoulder, Allison tried to get a better look at Klaus' bruised wrists. Klaus themselves looked down at their own wrists, too.

"Oh, that?" They giggled. "That's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing," Ben stated and tried to take hold of their wrist to get a better look, but Klaus pulled away.

They gripped the towel around their waist and scrambled up, stepping out of the little circle the siblings formed around them.

"Like mom said, breakfast is in half an hour," they said and began to exit the bathroom.

Five jumped ahead of them and shut the door before they could leave. 

"You're not leaving," he stated.

"What?" Klaus laughed in disbelief.

"You don't get to keep doing this, Klaus," Five said, "we came back in time not only to stop the apocalypse, but to fix our relationships, and we can't do that if you don't tell us what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me!" Klaus threw an arm up.

"No? Then you won't mind telling us where you got those marks, and the ones I saw on your thighs and hips."

"I don't have to tell you anythig, now let me out."

"Klaus," Vanya pleaded, joining Five, "please, just tell us. Who did that?"

"No one! Why won't you just leave me alone?" Klaus shouted. "Nothing. Is. Bothering. Me!" 

Ben shook his head and placed a gentle hand on Klaus's shoulder, ignoring the way Klaus flinched and turned quickly to see who it was touching them.

"Then why are you crying?" Ben askrd.

Frustrated, desperate tears had began to form in Klaus' eyes and one was slowly making its way down their cheek. Klaus brought a hand up and quickly wiped it away before it could drip from their chin.

"I'm not," they denied.

"Klaus," Allison sighed, "you can tell us. We just want to help you. Tell us, who did that to you?"

"No one, just leave me alone!" Klaus cried.

The siblings fell silent and could only watch as Klaus shoved the heel of their hands into their eyes, and backed up into the wall where they slid down it. They brought their knees up to their chest and rested their face on them, their shoulders racking with audible sobs.

"Leave me alone! Why won't you just leave me alone?" They whimpered.

Who were they talking to? 


	9. lights reflect on the surface of the water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I've got cold so this lrobably isn't that great because I'm tired, but i had to get it posted because it was almost finished.
> 
> I really hope you enjoy it anyway.

"Klaus, Klaus, it's okay," Ben gently coaxed, "they can't hurt you now."

"No, no, he can," Klaus shook their head vehemently, "you don't understand."

"He? Who's he?" Five demanded, taking a step forward.

Klaus curled even further into themselves, and Ben turned to glare at Five, gesturing him back. With a clenched jaw, Five retreated to stand beside Vanya and Allison again. The girls had heartbroken tears in their eyes, clearly wondering who was heartless enough to hurt their happy-go-lucky sibling.

Ben, however, was more intent on calming Klaus down and helping them come back to themselves. 

With as gentle hands as he could manage, Ben managed to pry Klaus' hands away from their tight hold on their own knees.

"You don't understand," Klaus murmured, head still buried into their knees despite their hands having been removed.

"Understand what?" Ben prompted. "Help me understand, Klaus. Please."

"No, I can't," Klaus shakily breathed into their knees.

"You can. Whoever this person is, he can't hurt you anymore. You've got us, we'll protect you," Ben reassured them.

Klaus reluctantly looked up at Ben through teary eyes. They blinked and their tears fell down their cheeks. Briefly, their eyes flickered over to the other siblings standing by the bathroom door, before they quickly looked back to Ben.

They shifted and opened their mouth slightly, then quickly closed it again when words failed them.

They tried again.

"I did it to protect you all," they admitted quietly to Ben.

"Did what? Let him hurt you?" Ben inquired.

Klaus looked away and nodded. 

"Klaus," Ben sighed, "you didn't have to let him hurt you. We can look after ourselves."

"This is why you don't understand," Klaus stated, "you can't. Not against him."

"Klaus," Five said suddenly, stepping closer again.

Klaus and Ben looked up to Five, the former looking unsure, the latter sending a warning look to their brother.

"Klaus, you're giving me ideas, please tell me it's not who I think it is," Five requested lowly.

"That depends on who you're thinking of," Klaus giggled nervously.

"Reginald," Five stated, not one to beat around the bush.

All of the siblings, except Klaus, looked disgusted and horrified. Five paid them no mind as he carefully examined Klaus' expression. The latter looked distraught, terrified, and guilty. He couldn't understand why they looked guilty as they hadn't done anything wrong from what Five could gather.

Feeling more sure of his deduction now, he inched closer to Klaus then knelt down in front of them. 

"Am I right?" He asked.

Beside him, Ben was looking back and forth between them, face just as distraught as Klaus'.

"Don't lie to me, Klaus," Five said when Klaus' face morphed into a failed attempt at nonchalance, "I need to know."

Klaus opened and closed their mouth a couple of times, beginning to say something each time then giving up.

Eventually, the simply just nodded their head, confirming Five's suspicion.

Ben fell backwards in shock onto his ass, hand falling out of Klaus'. The latter brought their arms closer to themselves and buried their head into their arms again as Vanya and Allison gasped at the admission.

"Hargreeves did this to you?" Five asked lowly, hoping against hope that whatever Klaus was agreeing to wasn't what he had asked.

With their head still buried, Klaus nodded, and their shoulders shook against muffled cries.

"I'm sorry," Klaus apologised for what felt like the hundredth time, "I did it to protect you. He was- he was going to do it to you too if I said anything. I'm sorry."

"Klaus," Ben shook his head though Klaus couldn't see, "Klaus, you have nothing to apologise for. You wanted to protect us, you put yourself on the line for us. You were hurt in the most unimaginable way because you _thought_ you had to protect us. And, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I'm sorry you felt like you had to do that. I'm sorry that you were hurt. I'm sorry."

And then Ben was crying, his head buried in his hands, shaking side to side in despair. Five felt much the same, though those feelings were quickly being buried by building anger. No, that word was too weak to describe what he was currently feeling. He had never felt so angry before. Not in the apocalypse, not working as an assassin, not as a kid when he'd been denies time and time again the chance to practice time travel.

What he was feeling now wasn't simple anger. 

He was enraged. His hands were shaking with barely contained fury as he rose to his feet and turned away. He was disgusted. Not with Klaus, but with Reginald. He couldn't even put into words what exactly he was feeling other than that he was seeing red. He wanted the man dead. Wanted him bleeding from every orifice on the floor of his precious study.

In what felt like pure instinct, he threw his fist at the mirror, sending pieces flying into the sink and on the floor. Vanya yelped in surprise and stepped closer to Allison, but Five paid her no mind as he ran a hand through his hair and paced the floor.

"He has to die," he stated, eyes trained on the tiled floor.

"But what about the timeline? I thought we had to keep it the same," Allison said quietly, though she sounded unsure even as she said the words.

"Forget the timeline. We can handle the Commission," Five reassured her, "but Hargreeves has to die. What he's done to Klaus is... despicable. He can't be allowed to live anymore."

"I can handle it, Five-o," Klaus murmured, looking up. He looked tired. The more Five looked at him, the more he noticef all of the signs that something wasn't right. Of course he'd known something was off a while ago, but he could never have conjured something like this if he thought about it. Looking at Klaus now, though, with the knowledge of what he'd been through, he realised it should have been obvious.

Ben had told him a couple of months ago that Vanya had seen bruises on Klaus' body. He'd said Kluas had admitted to sneaking out to try and get drugs, but it had backfired. Seeing the bruises now, he, and probably Ben and Vanya, knew Klaus had probably lied about that to cover up the abuse he was experiencing.

He felt sick at the thought of what Reginald had been doing to his own sibling. 

"Seriously, don't risk the apocalypse just for little ol' me," Klaus continued.

Five shook his head, jaw clenched. 

"Shut up," he snapped, much to everyone's surprise, "I am sick of your self destructive tendencies. Your well being, your physical and mental health isn't worth the apocalypse."

From the corner of his eye, he could see Vanya and Allison gaping at him. They knew how much stopping the apocalyose meant to him. They clearly didn't know that they meant more.

"What's the point of stopping the apocalypse if I lose a sibling in the process?" He grit out, heart pounding.

Years of isolation had chipped away at his social skills, and admitting he cared about someone other than Delores had become a chore to him. It was hard, especially since cared so much.

Admitting to Klaus, the one he would usually call annoying and attention seeking, that he actually cared about them, was hard. 

It was worth it, though, to see the way Klaus shut their mouth in surprise. The way they glanced briefly at Ben, as if to check what they were hearing was real.

"Hargreeves dies," Five continued when it was obvious Klaus wasn't going to say anything else, "if any of you have a problem with that, that's not my problem."

"What abo-"

_Knock, knock, knock._

Five and the others looked in the direction of the door, Allison and Vanya stepping out of the way of it. They all held their breath in anticipation, praying it wasn't Regind for Klaus' sake.

The knock sounded again, this time with a voice. 

"Guys, are you in there? You're late for breakfast, dad is getting kinda angry," Luther's voice gave away the identity of the person knocking and the others sighed in relief.

Five rolled his eyes and the girls joined him, though a little more fondly than their brother. Despite what Luther had done to Vanya in the previous timeline, the latter had learned to forgive her brother, coming to the realisation that it was hardly his fault that he made the choices he did. He'd looked up to their father like he was God Himself, following his every order and never questioning it.

It was due to this reason that he thought the best solution to their problem was locking Vanya up. He hadn't had the best role model and it was exactly what Reginald would have (and already had, in the past) done.

Vanya reached for the handle and pulled open the door to let her brother in. Before she could close the door, Diego squeezed inside, giving her a sheepish smile as she closed the door. 

"Why are you all hiding in the bathroom?" Luther asked curiously

"And w-w-why is Klaus n-naked?" Diego continued with a raised eyebrow.

"We're not hiding," Five denied, "it just so happens that circumstances brought us here."

"What circumstances?" Luther questioned, with arms folded and an 'I need to know' face. Then, he unfolded his arms when he realised what he wss doing and resorted to letting them hang limply by his sides.

Since returning, he'd been trying to be a better brother to all of his siblings and had realised that being Number One didn't mean being better or having to be the leader all of the time. The first step he'd taken to becoming a better person was apologising to Vanya for locking her up, and to Klaus for choking them and throwing them across the room. Then, he even aplogised to Diego for getting into a fight with him at Reginald's funeral.

Everyone could safely say they had a lot more respect for Number One now, and they actually wanted to be around him. Before, his leader act and his constant want to be better had driven them away.

Five shot Klaus a questioning look, asking for their permission to tell Diego and Luther what was going on. After all, they'd need to know anyway otherwise killing Hargreeves would be a much harder task.

Though Five was looking at Klaus, they weren't looking at him. Instead, they were staring at Ben's hand placed on top of their own.

Since they weren't looking at him, Five took it upon himself to tell his brothers anyway. They needed to know what kind of sick bastard their father was and what he'd done to Klaus. He wouldn't be responsible for keeping secrets like this, not when there was a chance Hargreeves might hurt them, too, if he found out Klaus had told (before they killed him anyway).

"Hargreeves..." the next words he felt bitter on the tip of his tongue, and he had to swallow before he could continue.

"What?" Diego prompted.

Klaus' eyes were closed in resignation, Five noticed when he glanced at them.

He looked back to his brothers and began again. 

"Hargreeves-" he couldn't do it.

He turned away from his siblings and reached a hand up to swipe his face. His stomach felt weak and his throat was like the Sahara desert. His eyes stung and when he opened them, his vision was blurry. He felt just below them, and when he brought his hand away, his fingers were wet.

Oh. He was crying.

He hadn't done that in.... well, a long, long time. 

"Five?" Luther asked, concern heavy in his voice.

"Reginald has been sexually abusing Klaus," Allison blurted out before Five could reply.

He was slightly grateful, even if she lacked tact. It brought the attention away from the fact that he was so obviously crying.

"What?" Diego and Luther immediately replied, as expected. The shock was tangible in their voices and Five could almost imagine what expressions they wore.

He turned around, eyes dry, and faced the others again. Luther and Diego were looking back and forth between Allison and Klaus, though the latter had their eyes closed.

"Is t-t-this t-true, Kl-Klaus?" Diego stuttered out, his nerves making their appearance and affecting his speech.

"What? Of course it's not true!" Luther cut in as Klaus opened his eyes and looked up at Diego.

"L-let them sp-sp-speak!" Diego retorted angrily. "Is it t-t-t-rue?"

Klaus gulped and nodded their head, then turned way again. Ben pulled them in to his side in a one armed hug. 

"Don't tell me you all believe him?" Luther threw his hands up with frustration.

"That was low, even for you, Luther," Allison narrowed her eyes at Luther, in response to his purposeful misuse of Klaus' pronouns.

"It's fine," Klaus sighed, eyes closed again.

"N-no, it's not," Diego growled then shoved Luther. "You don't believe them? Fine. But how do you explain those marks on their body? Huh? Go on, I'm waiting."

Luther turned to eye the ring of bruises around Klaus' wrists, and the marks on their ankles. Then he returned his eyes to Diego and arrogantly crossed his arms.

"Well, obviously they've been sneaking out to get high again. One of their junkie pals probably did that to them and they're blaming dad to get out of trouble," Luther retorted.

There were no more words spoken between One and Two, as Five jumped over to Luther and wasted no time in throwing a punch at his brother. Luther stumbled backwards into the wall and brought a hand up to his cheek, nursing it. He glared heatedly at Five, breathing heavily to control his own anger. Five glared right back with just as much, probably more vigor.

Before anyone else could say or do anything, Klaus rose go their feet, adjusting the towel around their waist so it didn't fall. The others turned their attentions to them.

"You know what? Luther's right," they announced lightly, a grin on their face, "I lied. Dad hasn't abused me anymore than he has you guys. I went out, got off my head, and fucked around with the wrong people. I didn't want you guys to be disappointed in me, so I blamed it on the old man."

Luther looked smug, straightening up and folding his arms as he shot Five and Diego a look that screamed 'I told you so'. Five and Diego shook their heads at him, silently wondering if he had any braincells left.

"It was a really fucking shitty move, I know, but I'm just a really shitty person," Klaus continued, "so if you'll excuse me, breakfast awaits."

Klaus took a step towards the door, but Allison blocked their exit. She mimicked Luther with folded arms and glared sternly at Klaus.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" She rose an eyebrow at them.

"I'm not lying," they retorted, returning the heated stare.

"Yeah? Then you won't mind if I rumour you? We'll get the truth then, won't we?"

Ever since they travelled back to their thirteen year old selves, Allison had been trying to cut down on the rumouring. She only used it when it was absolutely necessary, like on missions or when Hargreeves requested, though she refused to rumour her siblings if he asked.

She hadn't used her power to kill since her missions in the previous timeline, and she hadn't used them to earn luxuries since her Hollywood days. The last time she'd used her power on her siblings was when she had wanted the last cookie. She'd gotten it and her siblings hadn't been too bothered because it was just a cookie.

Looking at the situation now, Five could see how she thought it required urgent action. He wanted to tell her not to, but at the same, he wanted the full facts before he murdered Reginald. Besides, it might help convince Luther that he was being an ignorant ass again.

"You don't need to do that," Klaus said.

"Then you won't mind willingly telling the truth," Allison prompted hopefully.

Beside her Vanya was watching the duo back and forth like a tennis match, and beside Five, Ben looked conflicted.

"I am telling the truth!" Klaus cried desperately.

The tears were back and their cheeks were red, either from anger or embarrassmemt, or some other complicated emotion Five didn't understand. 

"No, you're not!" Allison shouted. "He hurt you and you're protecting him! I just want the truth! _I heard a rumour..."_

"Allison, no!" Ben protested quickly, hurrying to reach her.

" _that you told us what Reginald did to you,_ " Allison finished.

Ben was too late and Klaus' eyes flashed white with the affect of Allison's power. He stared wide eyed as Klaus began speaking. A tear dripped down their cheek, unable to stop themselves as they revealed their dark secrets.

"You didn't have to do that," Ben growled at Allison.

"We needed to know the truth," Allison replied.

They both turned back to Klaus, listening to what they had to say.

"-in both this timeline and the previous one, Reginald sexually abused me. It used to be once every two weeks, but lately it's been getting more frequent and I don't know what to do. A few weeks ago, he took me to the mausoleum and raped me while the ghosts screamed at me that I enjoyed it. I didn't. Not one bit. I've been putting up with it to protect you all because I don't want any of you to get hurt."

"Son of a bitch," Five grit out.

He jumped away without another word, leaving the rest of the siblings reeling from both Klaus' confession and his sudden exit. 


	10. family sticks together, no matter what

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, warnings in this chapter for a bit of violence, I guess? It's not that bad, but... Still I'm sure most of you won't mind because it's just reginald.
> 
> Anyways, hope you all enjoy.

The silence was thick and tense following Number Five's sudden exit from the bathroom. The remaining siblings all stared at each other, daring the other to make the first move.

It was Diego who moved first, withdrawing one of his knives from his pocket as he barged passed Allison and Vanya and left the bathroom. That left five of them until Allison exited, then four, three, and finally two as Ben and Klaus remained. 

Ben stared quietly at the back of Klaus' head, his sibling refusing to look at him as they focused on the green tiled floor. Ben took a step towards them and placed a hand on their shoulder.

"Don't," Klaus shrugged him off, "just... don't."

"Sorry," Ben muttered.

"They're going to kill him, aren't they?" Klaus asked, though it was obvious they knew the answer.

"There's nothing that could stop them," Ben confirmed.

Klaus nodded.

"I think we should find the others," Ben suggested carefully.

Klaus tensed momentarily, then nodded their head again, agreeing. Ben placed a hand on their arm and led them from the room.

* * *

"You bastard!" Five hissed the second his feet hit the dining room floor.

He tore a knife off the table and jumped the short distance to where Reginald sat at the head. The man looked startled and angry at Five's behaviour, and rose from his seat intimidatingly, but that didn't put Number Five off, he merely rose the knife higher it was aimed at his father's throat.

"Number Five, how dare you?" Reginald growled. "Explain this behaviour at once!"

Five scoffed, the smirk on his face barely hiding his fury. 

"I think you know," he retorted, "you hurt Klaus. You've _been_ hurting them for a long time now."

"I assure you, Number Five, that I have no idea what you're talking about," Reginald said calmly.

A heard of booming, hurried footsteps met Five's ears, announcing the arrival of the others, but he didn't take his eyes away from Reginald for even a second. Reginald didn't look away from him, either.

The footsteps paused behind Five, and he could only imagine what it looked like to Reginald. A revolution, probably. His perfect, little soldiers finally growing backbones and revolting against him. 

The thought amused, Five, and he smirked even wider. 

"Do it," Diego quietly told Five, his stutter having abandoned him, "or I will."

"Not yet," Five replied, "I want to hear him admit it. I want him to admit to being a sick bastard."

"Enough of this! All of you, to your rooms now! You'll spend the day withou food and training until you've learned your lessons," Reginald ordered.

He was red in the face. 

"You don't own us anymore," surprisingly, it was Luther who had spoken up against their father. "What you've done to Klaus is unforgivable, and you need to pay."

"I have done nothing to your brother," Reginald denied angrily, "I don't know what kind of lies he's been spewing this time, but I assure you all, he will be suitably punished!"

Five barely stopped himself from impaling Reginald's throat with the knife he was holding. He clenched his jaw and glared at Reginald.

"Allison?" He prompted.

" _I heard a rumour you couldn't move or talk until Klaus and Ben got here._ "

Reginald's eyes glossed over milky white and he remained still as Allison's rumour took control of his body.

"I was hoping for something a little more permanent, but that will do for now," Five lowered the knife and tucked it into the waistband of his shorts.

"What are we going to do with him?" Vanya inquired.

"We're still going to kill him," Diego said before Five could answer, "we're just waiting until Ben and Klaus arrive. I think Klaus should be allowed to give their input on what happens to this sick bastard."

"I agree," Five nodded.

"What about mom and Pogo? What if they come in?" Luther asked, a hint of unsureity to his voice.

"We tell them the truth," Five shrugged, "I don't think eveb Pogo will listen to Hargreeves when he finds out what the old man has done. And, well, mom was designed to be a protector."

Diego hopped onto the table, resting his feet on one of the chairs. He removed his knife from its holster and began twirling it in his hands whilst staring at Reginald. Their father's eyes watched him back, though he couldn't say or do anything.

* * *

The siblings waited for ten minutes before Ben and Klaus arrived, and when they did, Klaus had gotten dresses. Not into their uniform, though. Now they were wearing a pair of black jeans and a long sleeve, tie dye shirt. Their feet were bare.

Ben shoved both himself and Klaus further into the room to where Five and Diego were lounging, both with murderous expressions in their eyes. 

As soon as they reached Five and Diego, though, Reginald threw himself to his feet and slammed his hands down upon the table in anger. The siblings all jumped, Five and Diego both aiming their knives at the man, though he paid them no mind.

"This behaviour is completely unacceptable! I expected better from you all! You especially, Number One. Allowing your siblings to treat me in such a way, after everything I've done for you all," Reginald fumed.

"Don't you dare talk to him like that," Five growled and gripped his knife tighter. There was an expression in his eye that dared Reginald to say anything else.

The man wisely remained silent, though he still looked like he was going to combust. 

"Good," Five nodded, "now sit back down so we can talk."

"You don't-" Reginald began.

"Sit the fuck down!" Diego shouted.

A knife whizzed passed Reginald's head, missin him by mere millimeters and the man's eyes widened. In anger or fear, none of them knew, but he sat down anyway.

Five nodded and approached the man, knife still raised in a threatening way, just to let Reginald know how serious he was and that he held all of the cards. 

He stopped, nose to nose with Reginald.

"I have a question," Five started. His eyes flickered to the right momentarily, catching Klaus' eyes before he turned right back to Reginald. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"If you want an answer, boy," Reginald retorted, "you will have to explain yourseld better than that."

"Who the fuck gave you permission to hurt Klaus?" Five roared.

The knife sailed down, almost whistling through the air with its speed, and was embedded in Reginald's thigh. The man shouted in surprise and pain, and looked down at the silver knife in his leg.

He looked up and reached a hand out to grab Five, but the boy simply turned the tables by catching his moving hand and twisting it behind the chair. He grabbed the man's other hand, too, and brought it around whilst Reginald demanded he stopped at once and went to his room.

"You don't fucking own us, anymore, you despicable piece of shit," Five hissed at the man, "Vanya, fetch me some rope. Allison, go and find Pogo and Mom."

"Why do you need Mom and Pogo?" Diego inquired as the girls left to do as they were told.

"I want them to be here when this piece of shit admits to what he's been doing," Five growled.

"Five," Klaus spoke up and all eyes turned on them, "don't you think this is a little extreme? I mean, we don't have to kill him."

"Why are you still protecting him, Klaus?" Diego demanded with mild frustration.

Klaus looked offended. 

"I'm not protecting him! Why would I? Jesus, I know what he did to me, Diego! I just- I just don't think killing him is the best solution," Klaus waved their hands about, trying to get their point across.

"You don't want him following you around after he dies," Ben realised.

"Yeah," Klaus confirmed. Their eyes were trained on the knife still embedded in Reginald's leg and the dark patch beginning to spread on the already dark fabric of his trousers. "I already can't stand the ghosts I see now, I don't need him there, as well."

"He won't be," Ben said, "he wasn't there in the previous timeline, why would he be now?"

"In all fairness, he did kill himself," Klaus shrugged, "he didn't have any unfinished business."

"I suppose," Ben said, "but he has to die, Klaus."

"Ben's right. If we let him live, there's no telling what he'll do," Five added.

"I guess," Klaus reluctantly agreed. They brought a hand up and swiped it over their face.

Vanya returned at that moment with a ball of thick rope held in her small arms. Five nodded to Diego, and she took it to him. Diego accepted the rope and hopped off the table to join Five.

As he rounded the chair his father was on, he began untangling the rope. It wasn't very tangled so by the time he and Five were side by side, the rope had been untangled and was gathering on the floor. 

With experienced hands from his vigilante days, Diego began tying the rope around Reginald's wrinkled hands until they were tightly bound together. Then he moved around to the man's feet, completely ignoring the threats of extra training for a week coming from the man.

He tied each of the mans ankles to the chair legs with the left over rope then knotted it and cut it with his knife. He tossed the remaining rope onto the table. 

By the time he was finished, Allison had returned with Pogo and Grace. Pogo looked appalled by what was going on, and Grace simply looked mildly confused, though she didn't say anything.

"Children, what on Earth is going in here?" Pogo demanded to know.

"Why don't you ask him," Five suggested, coming from behind Reginald's chair. On his way, he tore the knife out of the man's leg and wiped the blood on his blazer.

"Master Hargreeves?" Pogo prompted.

"It seems the children have turned against me, Pogo," Reginald said.

"Wrong answer!" Five shouted and threw a punch at the man's face.

"Christ..." Klaus murmured to themselves.

"Number Five!" Pogo was shocked, eyes wide.

"Try again," Five grit out to Reginald with a tight hold on the man's tie.

Reginald remained quiet, jaw clenched as he and Five stared at each other.

"Fine, I'll tell them myself," Five decided.

He harshly let go of Reginald's tie and span around to face Pogo and Grace. The former was confused, looking back and forth between the children and Reginald, clearly wondering what the man could have done to warrant this kind of behaviour. The latter had her head tilted, probably wondering the same, or perhaps trying to figure out if this was a new game the children had invented. After all, they were quite creative when it came to passing the time and their boredom.

"Five," Vanya warned, but her eyes weren't on him. She was looking at Klaus, tucked as close to the wall as they could get with Ben. They were pale and they looked to be trembling.

That only served to anger Five even further so he turned away and faced Pogo and Grace again.

"This sick bastard," he gestured behind him to Reginald, "has been sexually abusing Klaus. For how long, I don't know, but it's been going on for a long time and we didn't even know."

The reaction from Pogo was unexpected. The monkey's face fell, then turned to one of momentary anger, then disbelief. None of the children had ever seen Pogo angry before, but on his face, it looked strange, like it didn't belong there.

On their mother's face, the only reaction they got out of her was a flash of her electronic eyes as she processed the information, and an out of place frown.

Pogo turned to Reginald, "is this true, Master Hargreeves?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Pogo. Of course it isn't. Number Four is a compulsive liar, we both know this," Reginald denied.

"The only liar here is you," Allison stepped up angrily, "I rumoured Klaus to tell the truth and they admitted to what you did, you disgusting man. My rumours always work."

Reginald gave an out of character scoff.

"It does seem unusual that Miss Allison should rumour Master Klaus and receive that answer," Pogo said.

"They are obviously lying, Pogo. The means these children will go to, to get out of training astounds me."

Five growled and imbedded his knife into the man's uninjured thigh, garnering another shout of pain from him that had Five smirking. 

This time, there was no objection from Pogo.

"Allison," Five addressed his sister. She stepped up. "The only way we're going to get past this is if you rumour him into admitting what he did."

"What about Klaus?" Allison muttered, casting a look at Klaus. They were pale, practically leaning all of their weight onto Ben.

"It doesn't matter," Five said, "the sooner we're past this, the sooner we can deal with the bastard."

Allison looked back at Klaus one final time before sighing and turning back to Reginald.

"Number Three," Reginald warned, "know your place."

" _I heard a rumour that you admitted to what you did to Klaus,_ " Allison said.

For the second time in an hour, Reginald's eyes washed over white with the affect of Allison's rumour before going back to their original colour. Then, the man began to speak.

"Years ago, I came to the realisation that Number Four's powers could grow to be too big and too powerful, so, in order to prevent that from happening, I decided I needed to break him. Make him obsequious. In order to do that, I began to sexually abuse him. He put up a fight at first, as expected, but then I threatened to do the same thing to Number Three and Number Seven, and he soon complied. My methods have proven to be successful as Number Four remains a simple junkie who is completely useless on missions and afraid of his own powers." 

When the rumour ended, Reginald blinked his eyes as if trying to blink away the rumour, though it was too late for that. Everything he had been trying to deny had already been said; it was now out in the open and unable to be taken back. Following his admission, the room was tense and silent, everyone looking at Reginald with expressions varying from disgust to pure anger.

Heavy breathing caught everyone's ears and they all turned to find Klaus leaning more fully against Ben. It looked like the boy was having trouble keeping Klaus up by that point. Tears were making their way down Klaus' face, their cheeks were red, and their eyebrows were furrowed with anger. Though they were leaning against Ben, they were looking at Reginald. 

They straightened up, pushing away from Ben.

"I'll show you 'useless junkie'," Klaus growled.

The lights flickered a few times, desperately hanging onto life before they cut out. The siblings all held their breath and looked around with confusion. Had Vanya lost control of her powers again? Five ruled that out, though, when he felt her distinct hand gripping his wrist. He held onto her, trying to reassure her, though he was confused, too. 

An unfamiliar scream made him startle and he whirled around, trying to find the source, but all he could see was the dim glow behind Grace's eyes, looking around. He unconsciously inched himself and Vanya closer to her, but he bumped into someone in the process. That someone grabbed hold of him and before he could attack, Luther's voice met his ears. He rolled his eyes.

"What's going on?" Allison's voice asked.

"I don't know," Five answered truthfully.

"That's reassuring," Diego muttered.

"I don't have the answer to everything," Five retorted.

Another scream pierced the air and Five blindly reached for another knife from the table. His had grabbed something and he grabbed it, despite the fact that it could very well just be a spoon. He'd make due. A third scream met his ears, this one more like a wail, and following it, something flashed in the corner of his eyes. He span around, Vanya's hand still in his own, just in time to see something blue flash out of existance.

"What was that?" Vanya whispered.

"It was a ghost," Ben answered, "this is Klaus. They're doing this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasnt expecting to go where this chapter went, i was hoping to just kill reggie, but this happened instead. reginald will definitely be killed next chapter though, as im sure you can all guess :)
> 
> Anyway, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)


	11. the deed is done and so are you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for minor gore. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

"What the hell does that mean?" Diego demanded. "What are they doing?"

"I don't know!" Ben reached out, searching for Klaus in the darkness, though he couldn't find them. "Klaus, where are you?"

As expected, there was no answer from his sibling, only more ghosts being summoned into the physical world and screaming. As much as Ben didn't want to admit it, he was kind of afraid. Not of Klaus, of course, he had full faith they wouldn't hurt any of their siblings. Not on purpose, anyway. No, he was afraid of what Klaus could do. He hadn't known Klaus could do whatever this was at all. He'd known of course, that they could manifest ghosts considering they'd summoned Ben before they all time travelled, but whatever was happening right now, it felt more powerful than simply manifesting a few ghosts to scare their father.

Whatever Klaus was doing now, it was different. It felt more powerful, like they'd done just what Reginald had been scared of. It felt like they'd unlocked their full potential just to spite their father. But Ben was afraid that they wouldn't be able to control it. They were scared of the ghosts, what if they lost control of them?

"Klaus," he called again. He met something and that something dragged him a little closer.

"Stay close," Five's voice met his ears.

"No, I have to help Klaus," Ben replied, stepping away.

Five pulled him back.

"Whatever they're doing right now, I have a feeling we shouldn't interfere," Five said.

As Ben reluctantly resigned himself to gathering with the others and blindly trying to seek out Klaus' form in the darkness, more ghosts began to appear around the dark room. They all glowed a cold blue colour and none of them disappeared anymore, this time staying put in the physical world as Klaus seemed to grow more confident with their power.

Around the ghosts' blue glow, Ben could see walls and furniture, and the floor beneath their decaying feet. But he couldn't see Klaus. He had no idea where they were. He couldn't hear them either. They weren't saying a word nor did they seem to be moving as far as Ben was aware.

Reginald hadn't said or done anything either. Ben had caught sight of the man, still tied to his chair, a few times as the ghosts wandered around the room, testing the limits of their newfound physicality. The man looked to be trying to keep to himself, his breathing heavy, proof of the genuine fear he was feeling.

"They haven't done anything," Vanya murmured, more to herself than the others.

"Give it time," Five muttered back. He still had ahold of Vanya and Ben's wrists. Neither of them complained.

_Klaus..._

"What was that?" Allison hissed quietly.

"The ghosts," Ben answered.

_Klaus... Klaus..._

The ghosts began to wail. Ben could see their rotting mouths forming the words. It looked lile they weren't saying anything at all with how slow they were moving, but he knew they were behind the way Klaus' name was being slurred into the darkness they hated so much.

"Why are they calling their name?" Luther asked worriedly.

"They always do."

"You mean this is what Klaus sees and hears all the time?" Diego asked next.

"Don't act so surprised," Ben barely refrained from snapping, "why else do you think they turned to drugs and alcohol?"

None of the siblings had anything else to say as they all fell silent, watching the ghosts wandering around the dining room. 

At the entrance to the room, in the doorway, was a little boy. He was wearing plain old pyjamas and slippers, a little teddy bear clutched in his left hand. His hair was mussed up with what must have been sleep, a long time a go. A trail of dark red blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth. There was a forlorn expression on his face, his wide doe eyes examining the siblings, even though they themselves couldn't see each other.

There was a sniffle from Ben's far right, and he guessed Allison was crying. Possibly imagining Claire in that boy's position. Stuck as a ghost with unfinished business, destined to simply wander purgatory for who knows how long, unaware of what was happening to her and scared. Ben's heart wrenched at the comparison and the Horror twisted uncomfortably in his stomach, so he turned away from the boy in the doorway.

"Just a useless junkie, huh?" Klaus' voice finally pervaded the room, reaching Ben's ears.

He perked up and turned in the general direction of where he'd heard it come from. 

"It's funny," Klaus giggled, "you've clearly had your head so far up your own ass, too preoccupied with 'breaking' me, that you didn't even realise that I've been sober for a year now. Well, if I'd known I could do this, could actually control the ghosts, I would have gotten sober years ago!"

Ben was still searching for Klaus in the seemingly endless darkness when he spotted them. Not because of the ghosts, like he'd seen Reginald, no, he found Klaus because of their hands. Like in the Icarus Theatre, Klaus' hands were glowing blue. In the darkness, they seemed a hundred times brighter than last time. Ben could just about see Klaus' face, the shadows cast on them making them look more intimidating than their thirteen year old face actually was. They looked taller, somehow. 

"Now, let's see what I can do," Klaus muttered.

They turned to one of the ghosts in the corner of the room, coincidentally closest to Reginald, and eyed them up and down. The ghost, apparently sensing their stare, looked up and straight at Klaus. The latter chuckled and turned their eyes to Reginald. The ghost followed their stare and moaned something incomprehensible. Klaus nodded.

Then, it was like a flick had been switched within the room, setting things into motion. The ghost- no, the _ghosts_ all moved. Towards Reginald. The screaming began again, not of Klaus' name, but of revenge. The ghosts yelled for revenge, wailed about sins and wrong-doings, and hatred.

They tore into Reginald without hesitation, showing no mercy nor remorse for the man as he screamed and begged for it all to stop, for Klaus to stop it and listen to him. They didn't.

Ben was forced to look away when the ghosts reached the man's insides. He was still alive.

He wanted to rejoice in the man's death, to laugh at the sight because he fucking deserved it after what he'd done, but he couldn't. He couldn't because... well, the ghosts. They were just like the Horror. Just like Them. Tearing and tearing, and pulling, and killing with no regard for whose life they were taking as long as it was _someone's._

And they weren't even under Klaus' control either. They were just living through them, just like the Horror had lived through Ben, right down until his last second.

Finally, finally, Reginald's screams subsided. The only sound left was the cacophony of wailing coming from the ghosts, but that wasn't an unusual sound to Ben, so he looked up and over towards where Reginald was. The room was still dark, but thanks to the ghosts, he could see what was still left of the man.

There wasn't much. 

Bile rose in Ben's throat and he swallowed it down, reminding himself that this wasn't something he hadn't seen before. Perhaps he felt sick because it wasn't his own doing, but it was Klaus'. His sibling who usually wouldn't hurt a fly, who would clearly rather suffer in silence than think about bothering someone else with their problems.

The ghosts flickered, as did Klaus' still glowing fists, and then they disappeared. The room fell into darkness once again before being illuminated by the ceiling lights and the natural light from outside the window. Ben hadn't even realised that there had no longer been any sunlight streaming through. How had he not noticed? 

He looked away from the window, over Reginald's mutilated corpse, and found Klaus with his eyes. He watched as their hand rose to their forehead and they... well, as they floated gently back to the floor. He realised that's why Klaus had seemed taller. Because they'd been levitating. What the hell? 

"I feel sick," he heard Klaus mutter to themselves.

Then, they promptly collapsed to the floor, falling face first into the pool of Reginald's crimson blood.

"Shit," he fretted as he pulled away from Five and skidded over to Klaus.

He threw himself to his knees, knowing they would bruise later, and pulled Klaus into his lap, out of the puddle of blood. He winced at the thick red liquid now on the side of Klaus' face and the collar of their blazer and shirt.

Something waved in his face and he looked up to see a tea towel. Vanya was on the other end of it, offering it to him. With uncertain hands, he took it from her then turned back to Klaus, beginning to shakily wipe away the blood from their face.

His hands were all over the place. He couldn't keep still.

Vanya's hands covered his and then slowly pried his fingers away from the towel. She began to clean Klaus up herself.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Um," Luther's voice caught his attention, but he didn't look up, "can we, uh, can we get rid of- of that?"

When he did look up, he saw Luther pointing awkwardly at Reginald's defiled body. His brother was even paler than usual, his face sheet white. Even his lips has lost their colour.

"I'll deal with it," Five decided, almost eagerly. Ben didn't want to know what the psycho had planned for the body of their father. "You guys deal with Klaus. Make sure they're ok."

"What are you going to do with him?" Allison asked.

"It doesn't matter," Five deflected the question, "just get Klaus to the infirmary. Mom, can you do that?"

At the mention of her name, Grace seemed to come back to present from whatever robotic dream sequence she seemed to be having whilst staring at Reginald's corpse. She turned to Five and tilted her head slightly.

"What was that, dear?" She asked.

"Can you take Klaus to the infirmary and make sure they're ok?"

"Of course, I can, sweetie," Grace smiled and then crossed the room, through the growing puddle of blood to reach Klaus.

As she gathered Klaus' unconscious form in her arms and began to leave the room with him while Ben and the others followed, he pretended not to notice Five grabbing whatever was left of Reginald and disappearing with a flash. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but ol reggie is FINALLY dead. Thank god for that.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed :) 
> 
> Unfortunately, there's only one chapter left :( i have really enjoyed writing this story despite the dark topic. This was one of my first fics, as far as I remember and writing it has been an emotional roller-coaster.
> 
> Thankfully, the next chapter will consist of healing, mentally and physically, and sibling bonding in this dysfunctional family.


	12. sometimes i look up to the sky and wonder, 'do you see us down here, Lord?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry i left this for so, but as i mentioned in my other fic I've kinda been falling out of love with the fandom and experiencing some writer's block. Though, in regards to the first one, the tua instagram page kinda advertised s2 so i forced myself to finish this anyway.
> 
> I will be writing a sequel eventually going into klaus' healing process and how their siblings help them through it, but in the meantime i would like to thank everyone for reading this fic and all of your lovely responses to it despite the tough subject
> 
> Anyway, enough of my rambling, enjoy😊

Klaus didn't wake for two days, presumably exhausted and overworked from the overuse of their powers when they'd barely used them in thirty years. None of the siblings left their side in the two days they were unconscious- not willingly anyway. They only left when Grace and Pogo coaxed them out of the infirmary to eat, but as soon as they were done, it was straight back to watch over their sibling.

Over the two days, the household was tense and almost quiet, nervous. That Hargreeves would miraculously come back somehow with venom on his tongue and a punishment in mind for each of them. That the Commission would find them, too, and kill them all, thus rendering their attempts at saving the world useless.

Despite all of this, they remained by Klaus' side, unwilling to leave for anything. With understanding, Pogo and Grace only made them leave for lunch or to get some sleep and neither spoke a word about Reginald, seemingly waiting for the right moment to sit down and discuss what had happened and what to do about Klaus.

Ben stayed almost permanently with Klaus. While the others reluctantly left following Pogo and Grace's chastisings, Ben ate and slept in the infirmary. Grace brought him his food and he slept with his head resting on Klaus' bed.

By the second day, when the siblings' hope was just beginning to dwindle, Klaus began to wake. It started with them twitching, then, an hour later, turning over to sleep on their side. Finally, after a couple of long hours, they stirred.

Their eyes fluttered and they grabbed the pillow in their hand tightly before their fingers loosened on it and they brought a hand to their forehead, rubbing it with a frown.

"Christ, what did I take?" They muttered to themselves.

"Nothing, as far as I'm aware," Ben answered.

Klaus' eyes slowly opened with confusion. When they spotted Ben and the others crowding around them and the bed, their eyebrows rose in question.

"Uh, hey, guys," they greeted awkwardly, "what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Five questioned.

"Not really. It's all kinda fuzzy," they answered.

The siblings all shared a look, silently prompting the other to tell Klaus what had happened. In the end, the duty fell to Five. None of them wanted to speak the words aloud because then that would mean it had really happened, but they knew that Five could be clinically withdrawn when he needed to be. See, the apocalypse.

Positioning himself on the end of the bed, Five shoved his hands into his blazer pocket and looked at Klaus.

"You told us what Hargreeves did to you," he began.

Almost immediately, Klaus' expression fell into something fearful, horrified. Distraught, even. Ben placed a hand over theirs, but they pulled away and brought their knees to their chest.

"And-"

"Go away," Klaus interrupted Five.

"What?" Diego asked with surprise.

"I said go away. All of you!" Klaus shouted then shoved Five off of the bed.

He stumbled a little before regaining his footing. Though he looked like he wanted to fight back, his pursed his lips and nodded. 

With a look to the others, they all left the room, leaving Klaus to their own devices. All but Ben, of course.

"I said 'all of you'," Klaus huffed, eyes fixed ahead of them.

"I'm not leaving you," Ben said.

"Go away," Klaus grit out.

"No."

"Why? Why don't you ever listen to me? Do you know what you've done?" Klaus ranted.

At this point, angry tears had begun to gather in the corner of their eyes as they shouted at Ben, but Ben remained impassive. They knew how much Klaus hated other people's sympathy and pity. Inside, they were aching to just reach out and hold Klaus, but they knew that also wouldn't be taken well. 

"What do you mean?" He asked Klaus.

"I can't protect you now," Klaus cried, "you had to go and stick you nose in where it didn't belong! I was trying to protect you!"

"You think Reginald is still going to hurt us?" Ben inquired with confusion.

"Yes! I didn't put up with all of that for nothing. Jesu- I can't protect you anymore."

"Klaus," Ben sighed and relocated to sit where Five had been a minute ago, "he's dead. You killed him, remember?"

Though he didn't say it, Ben couldn't help but compare the current situation to when Vanya had first woken up after the apocalypse and couldn't remember what had happened.

Maybe Klaus needed some training with their powers, too. Ben couldn't cope if Klaus lost control again.

"What?" Klaus breathed then their fingers went up to rub their forehead. "Oh, shit. Yeah. Yeah, I remember. Sorry, Benny."

"You don't need to apologise to me," Ben shrugged.

"What a fucking roller-coaster, huh?" Klaus chuckled breathlessly.

"Yeah," Ben smiled. He shifted and then reached a hand out to touch Klaus before retracting it and scolding himself.

Klaus shook their head and pulled Ben into a hug anyway, burying their head into his shoulder. A small wet patch began to form on Ben's blazer as Klaus cried, but he didn't comment on it, simply continuing to murmur comforting words to his sibling.

"I know this won't take away what happened to you, what that asshole did, but I'm sorry, Klaus," he muttered into Klaus' shoulder.

Klaus nodded and then slowly pulled away from Ben to hold him at arms length. 

"Wanna go smoke a joint on the roof?" Klaus grinned.

"Klaus," Ben sighed.

"Kidding, I'm kidding," Klaus chuckled, "let's go to Griddy's instead. I'm sick of being cooped up in here. It gives me the creeps."

"We should probably talk about this a bit more, first," Ben suggested carefully.

Klaus tensed as they slipped off of the bed.

"Maybe," they agreed, "but not right now, yeah? Later. I promise. Just, let's pretend everything's fine for a couple more hours."

Though he wanted to argue with as much passion as his resurrected self could muster, Ben pursed his lips ans forced himself to nod. He couldn't force Klaus to talk if they didn't want to and trying would only make things a hundred times worse.

He'd learned that the hard way.

"Okay," he agreed, "let's go to Griddy's." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it😊 x


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